I woke to a tsunami – and my family home swept out to sea

Originally from the Chilean capital Santiago, Pedro Niada’s love of diving and underwater photography took him to the remote island of Robinson Crusoe, nearly 700km off the mainland. Here, he met his wife Fabiana and started a family. And he built their dream home by hand, with wood from the forest and cement made from beach sand. With its curved walls, the house looked like a giant wave.

Just two years after construction was complete, an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale – the sixth most powerful ever recorded – sent a tsunami roaring towards them. Their home was ripped from its foundations and swept out to sea, but the shape of the house bought them precious time to escape their sinking home. Pedro had unknowingly engineered his family’s survival. But his life's work had now been washed away in a wave.

Devastated, the family decided to rebuild their lives on mainland Chile, but Pedro’s yearning for the island would bring him back exactly 15 years after the tsunami. He tells Asya about his recent homecoming and how the unexpected trip helped him heal.

Presenter: Asya Fouks

Producer: Florian Bohr, Elena Angelides and Andrea Kennedy

Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Pedro and his family before the tsunami. Credit: Pedro Niada)