Well consider that I was at work when it happened, and I work at a market-making house. You aren't watching a TV - you're watching a trading screen. The first thing you notice isn't, "Oh shit, earthquake in Japan!" but "Nikkei 225 has gone nuts!" and adjust what you're doing accordingly. My ability to house and feed my family depends on making money at work.
When I saw the news videos later I was saddened. One thing that stood out to me was just the state of panic the people were in. There was a piece of video showing people trying to escape the tsunami in their cars. But they were just driving randomly. Some of them were driving towards the approaching wave. Then when they realised, they were trying to turn around in an orderly fashion, rather than just driving off the road. When panic sets in, your brain just stops thinking logically.