Akiko Kosaka, a student from Japan attending the University of California at Riverside, had lost all hope for her family in Minamisanriku, the fishing village where more than half of the 17,000 residents are missing and feared dead in the aftermath of last week's tsunami.

After scouring the internet for three days, Kosaka expected the worst.

Then she received word Sunday night from a friend in Japan of the existence of a 45-second YouTube video showing her family home as the only one standing amid the rubble.

The video highlighted her older sister holding a sign to a TV news crew saying in Japanese "we are all safe."

(WATCH the video below, or read the story at CNN)