Witness to Disaster
★ 6.4 · 2019 · 45m · Documentary
Hard-hitting amateur, CCTV and news footage reveals how some of the world's biggest natural disasters took away people's lives, homes and hope in Witness Disaster.
Episodes
1. Tornado Outbreak45m · In April 2011, 360 tornadoes ravage the southern United States in four days, killing 348 people.
2. Chilean Mine Rescue45m · A mine collapses in Chile, trapping 33 miners almost half a mile underground.
3. California Mudslide45m · Montecito is hit by a devastating natural disaster that leaves its residents fighting for their lives. Overnight, the quiet Californian beach town is swamped by a terrifying series of thirty-feet high, boulder-filled debris flows that destroy homes and leave streets swimming in mud. Through eyewitness testimony and footage taken during the disaster, we reveal how split-seconds decisions made the difference between life and death.
4. Portugal's Hellfire45m · The story of the largest fire in Portugal's history told by the people who were there.
5. Everest Avalanche45m · Nepal is hit by a 6.7 mega-earthquake that kills thousands; across the country, survivors are hit by terrifying avalanches that destroy everything in their path; presenting stories of survival, from the Kathmandu Valley to Mount Everest.
6. Lost in the Bermuda Triangle45m · On Oct. 1, 2015, the cargo ship El Faro is on a regular run to Puerto Rico when it disappears in a Category 4 storm called Hurricane Joaquin; it is determined that the El Faro sank off the coast of the Bahamas with 33 crew members.More Like This
Trainwreck: Woodstock '99
2022 · ★ 7.3
Woodstock 1969 promised peace and music, but its '99 revival delivered days of rage, riots and real harm. Why did it go so horribly wrong?
More info →
Surviving Disaster
2006 · ★ 6.7
Natural and man-made catastrophes retold by eyewitnesses and dramatic reconstructions.
More info →
Modern Marvels
1993 · ★ 8.1
HISTORY’s longest-running series moves to H2. Modern Marvels celebrates the ingenuity, invention and imagination found in the world around us. From commonplace items like ink and coffee to architectural masterpieces and engineering disasters, the hit series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.
More info →Days That Shocked the World
2026
Days that Shocked the World explores the most iconic disasters of the last 50 years, combining eye-witness testimony with powerful archive footage, to learn how each tragedy changed both the lives of individuals and the world. The anthology series features one- and two-part episodes that coincide with key anniversaries of these defining global events: including the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion in 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of the same year, the 2000 Air France Concorde crash, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami.
More info →
Alaska Aircrash Investigations
2016 · ★ 4
Ride along with the NTSB and its inter-agency partners as they work together towards determining the probable cause of aircraft accidents. These NTSB investigations provide a window into the integral role of air travel in Alaskan life, while raising awareness that might prevent future accidents.
More info →
Lac-Mégantic - This Is Not an Accident
2023 · ★ 9
Lac-Mégantic investigates one of the worst oil train tragedies in history: a foreseeable catastrophe ignited by corporate and political negligence.
More info →
Seconds from Disaster
2005 · ★ 7.1
Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme that investigates historically relevant man-made and natural disasters of the 20th century. Each episode aims to explain a single incidental by analyzing the causes and circumstances that ultimately effected the disaster. The program uses re-enactments, interviews, testimonies, and CGI to analyze the sequence of events second-by-second for the audience. Narrators for the show are Ashton Smith, Richard Vaughan and Peter Guinness.
More info →
Fukushima: Days That Shocked the World
2026
Survivors and witnesses recall March 11 2011 - when Japan was hit by a devastating tsunami of 40-foot waves, killing 20,000 and triggering a nuclear meltdown.
More info →
Chernobyl: Days That Shocked the World
2026 · ★ 6
The Chernobyl meltdown remains the world’s worst nuclear accident. Today, the disaster still haunts survivors, while the clean-up operation will continue for another 40 years.
More info →
The Great Kanto Earthquake: Three Days of Ruin in Tokyo
2023
A century after the Great Kanto Earthquake, previously unknown details have been extracted from newly 8K remastered and colorized footage, vividly demonstrating how Tokyo citizens faced the disaster.
More info →
The Kielland Disaster
2022 · ★ 7
123 people died when the Norwegian semi-submersible housing platform Alexander L. Kielland capsized in the North Sea in 1980. Survivors and relatives of the deceased still have many questions. What really happened?
More info →
Days That Shaped America
2018 · ★ 4.5
Historic events that forever transformed the United States.
More info →