From The Telegraph:
An earthquake measuring 8.9 struck off the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, shaking buildings in the capital Tokyo, causing "many injuries", major tsunami damage and at least one fire.
The Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses and buildings being swept away by tsunami in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture. Black smoke was seen billowing from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the north of the country were halted.
Television showed cars bobbing in water along side fishing boats. A 50 cm tsunami hit Japan's northern coast.
Tsunami warnings have also been issued for the west coat of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia.
The exact magnitude of this quake still seems to be in question as I have seen 7.9, 8.8, and 8.9. However what is clear is that it was a big one with a substantial amount of damage.
(BTW I was awakened to this news by the Emergency Broadcasting System. So I am letting all of you know as well)
Update: The earthquake is now officially measured at 8.9. And it is the largest earthquake to hit in Japan's history.
Here is more video of the devastation.
As I stated before there are still Tsunami warnings in place up and down the west coast of America, and it has already hit Hawaii
The President has released his official statement on this disaster:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2011
Statement By The President On The Earthquake In Japan And The Resulting Tsunami Warning Throughout The Pacific
"Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis.
The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial.
The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy.
We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials as I have instructed FEMA to be ready to assist Hawaii and the rest of the US states and territories that could be affected."
A friend of mine is traveling to Japan today to move her elderly parents to the US. I hope all is well where they are. Stay safe, Gryph.
ReplyDeleteTerrible tragedy. I'm thankful that building codes, emergency alerts and such exist to help mitigate the loss of life and property. The people in Japan know full well why these things are important and let us hope that it did indeed help to save lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gryph. I'm on the Cali coast just outside the tsunami zone (a really big tsunami might make it onto my street). I hope all folks along the coasts are ok. Here it is always Crescent City just north of us that gets affected by tsunami. My heart goes out to the Japanese people affected by the quake. At least they have the best damn system in the world for this. Those of us who live along mega subduction zones can learn from every one of these events. Here where I live, our "big one" is predicted to be possibly 9.2, so my family has an active earthquake plan and we periodically discuss it.
ReplyDelete8.9 - beyond belief.
ReplyDeleteWe're waiting for the tsunami to hit here too. Have about 10 minutes to go before it hits Kuaui, then to Ohahu, Maui & the Big Island. I don't think we're going to get much damage this time thankfully. Sure hoping it skips Kihei altogether. It's 3:10am here now.
ReplyDeleteOur Tsunami warning is still in effect. I'm getting regular updates here because my husband's supervisor is one of the leading tsunami experts in California. She's been facebooking all night.
ReplyDeleteMy prayers for those affected.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone can handle this, the Japanese can. They actually plan and drill for this, so hopefully human lives lost will be minimal.
I just clicked on the news and the guy said the tsunami is supposed to reach us in about 2 more hours. Everybody is watching Crescent City. Interesting note about Crescent City. When they rebuilt their harbor after the '64 tsunami (and another one whose date escapes me, more recent than the big '64 one), they changed the design, and not for the better. The design actually focuses and funnels a tsunami into the inner boat basin. I watched this phenomenon last year when we filmed the small tsunami that hit after the Chile quake. I would not want to be anywhere near that boat basin this morning.
ReplyDeleteThe tsunami has reached Hawaii. It is just before 6am here on the Cali coast. I'm checking to see if the harbor cameras in Crescent City have an internet feed.
ReplyDeleteMy town doesn't have a harbor, but the town just 6 miles south of us does. They are evacuating their waterfront areas. No going to Costco today.
ReplyDeleteI can now hear the Coast Guard helicopters patrolling the coastline. Some guy on tv just said that 8 ft waves are possible at Crecent City. Ouch.
ReplyDeleteI can hear the tsunami warning siren and my local tv channel just got interrupted for a tsunami announcement.
ReplyDeleteI just got a live update from Crescent City. Big crowd gathering at the vista point south of town. It is a safe zone with a great view. Reporter says the siren has gone off several times, and the beaches are empty. No sign of tsunami waves yet. Law enforcement is also up at the vista point, having themselves been told to seek higher ground.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I live about 500 feet from the designated tsunami inundation zone (I can see it from my house, lol).
ReplyDelete"Unshakable" probably not the best choice of words.
ReplyDeleteCrescent City just got its first significant wave. Observers say that the harbor drained out and then a large surge came in. They speculate that it was large enough to damage some boats. That's all I have, because the view from the vista point is too far away for details.
ReplyDeletehoping everyone stays safe! I watched the tv reporting until about 5am eastern time. Just awful!
ReplyDeleteThat wave at Crescent City was 5 feet. Most likely there will be some larger ones. And I just saw film of a loose boat in Santa Cruz harbor smacking a couple of other boats.
ReplyDeleteSorry I had to go to work in the middle of my live updates. As I was returning home, I heard that docks were destroyed at Ft Bragg and that much of Crescent City's harbor was destroyed. 4 people were swept away in Crescent City. One is feared dead.
ReplyDelete