TOKYO – A magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland. Fires triggered by the quake burned out of control up and down the coast, including one at an oil refinery.
At least one person was killed and there were reports of several injuries in Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) away, where buildings shook violently through the main quake and the wave of massive aftershocks that followed. A tsunami warning was issued for dozens of Pacific countries, as far away as Chile.
Japan's meteorological agency said that within two hours, large tsunamis washed ashore into dozens of cities along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of the country's eastern shore — from the northern island of Hokkaido to central Wakayama prefecture.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the quake caused "major damage in broad areas" but nuclear power plants in the area were not affected. The government prepared to send troops to the quake-hit areas.
"This is a rare major quake, and damages could quickly rise by the minute," said Junichi Sawada, an official with Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
TV footage showed waves of muddy waters sweeping over farmland near the city of Sendai, carrying buildings, some on fire, inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways. Fires spread through a section of the city, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The tsunami also roared over embankments in Sendai city, washing cars, houses and farm equipment inland before reversing directions and carrying them out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.
Elsewhere, large fishing boats lay upturned on land, some distance from the sea.
Officials were trying to assess damage, injuries and deaths but had no immediate details. Police said at least one person was killed in a house collapse in Ibaraki prefecture, just northeast of Tokyo.

ah i know that from internet and i was shocked when my mom was talking about that infront the store so i take a look at the internet

Alright, so even though the place where you are are not in danger, we should all get those emergency stuff gathered.
Let's hope for other places that are in great danger.

It's pretty bad. Watching video of the wave flooding over a large area in a heartbeat was scary as hell. :\ I have a lot of friends there but they're okay, and I have relatives in affected countries nearby.

I just also hate that where I live, we have an advisory, which just means that people should stay out of and away from the water. Unfortunately, a couple of friends of mine on networking sites are overreacting and stirring up unnecessary panic. It's pissing me off!

This earthquake is the biggest to be recorded in Japan's history, and the death toll, last I heard an hour ago, was at 36, and there are many missing...
The tsunami was around 10m tall when it was hitting the North East of Japan.
The phone lines are congested as many people are trying to get in contact with their loved ones telling them they're okay, however many are on the internet on twitter, facebook just contacting family members telling them they're fine. Many people are sharing their phones with others to let them contact loved ones, which is great to hear.
Many people in Tokyo are currently walking home due to trains currently out of order, however the power is slowly going up now as I speak, but there are no trains actually running.

In the North East, many are stranded on their rooftops, and it's getting cold over there as it's currently 10:10pm.
Cars, homes and boats have been swept around, and even a few people have bee swept into the sea.
There is a boat, which is carrying 10(or 100) passengers that has gone missing and no news have been reported on it.

For anyone trying to contact their loved ones or friends in Japan, there is a message board on the internet that you can check by typing in their name, and seeing if they have left a message on there saying that they're okay (similar to the message board that was opened for the incident in Christchurch)

I hope that everything is okay and God speed.

i've been keeping up with the news all morning, and the effects look devestating. >_<
and to think, i woke up worrying about my science test...

This Earthquake is the 7th largest instrumental recorded since the 18th Century...
200-300 bodies have been found in, possibly on the beach in Sendai, in the North Eart.
;c;

Death toll is now 400+

I've been hooked on the tv watchin what has happened to the beloved Japan... >,< this is just sad, I mean what happened was just devastating.
I pray for their safety and also the safety of all the other countries who may be/will be affected.

i've been trying to keep up with the news the best i can, since i'm in school. >_< i'm praying for their safety!

What's making me sick at the moment is that many people only really care because it's Japan, home of their anime, manga, and target of their japanophilia.

I'm not specifically talking about here (though I am), but I've seen it elsewhere when looking up the news on this. Comments ranging from "I hope the mangaka are alright!" to "Why couldn't it have happened to China or Korea instead?" implying the worst from the alternatives.

Although I did found out my friend was okay, so I'm relieved.

>>10 Word. It's really sad, and if anything, shows how we belittle these horrible disasters when they don't affect us directly. So sad.

BTW, I noticed on Amazon that there's a button on their homepage up in the corner that allows you to directly donate to the Red Cross to support Japan. I encourage you all to give what you can :)

>>10 Ikr, like Thanatos was saying...someone was complaining cos they were worried about the next ep of One Piece.

FUCK THAT SHIT. People are dead, and that is all one person can think about.

Another quake just hit Japan again and a nuclear plant had exploded. With a lack of clean water, things could not get worse for Japan.It is amazing that most building in the downtown area did not collapse.

Another quake just hit Japan again and a nuclear plant had exploded. With a lack of clean water, things could not get worse for Japan.It is amazing that most building in the downtown area did not collapse.

>>14

I don't believe I've seen anything about another quake, but yes there was an explosion.
They're also planning on adding boric acid to the coolants they use. Boric acid slows down fission reactions, so it's most likely that the plant has been damaged beyond repair and they are going to have a total shut down of the reaction.

Oh no... the nuclear plants finnaly had a meltdown... crap

>o< I hope it will end as soon as possible

This is just a possibility, but the jet stream may carry the radiation from the nuclear meltdown across the ocean to Vancover and the west of the US/Canada borders

D:
so many disasters these recent years.....

Not much information is being given from the japanese government itself, so pretty much everything is just speculation. It's true, there might have been a meltdown in the nuclear reactor 1. Maybe already before the explosion on Saturday. (Exactly what caused the explosion is still unclear. Even at what precise part of the nuclear power plant it happened still unknown.)
Also, they seem to have trouble cooling down reactor 3.

It's a fact though, that the radiation level in the north-east of Miyagi (which is near the power plant, I think) has risen about 400 times. About 150 people have been affected by it, but I think this number also includes workers at the power plant.

>>19
As for the radiation being carried over to the US/Canadian borders... For the following days the wind should carry the radiation to the east, BUT rain has also been predicted. And a change of the direction of the wind.
So IMO there is NO WAY it could be carried over to the US. Just look at the world map - the distance is far too long. About 8 300km (about 5 150 miles) separate Tokyo from San Francisco.

Okay, the north-east of Miyagi is not near the power plant. It's north of it. So the wind must have carried the radiation that way.

The aftershocks of the eartquake are around 4.6 magnitude and north, south, east and west parts of Japan have been hit with these aftershocks.

my God....anime...NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! (=.= -)

Oh look, another catastrophic disaster.
Tell me something new.

>>24 You jackass.

About 4 hours ago, there was another magnitude 6 earthquake near Tokyo.
So many after shocks still happening...

If anyone is interested, you can watch a live stream of the news channel in Japan which is showing everything that is happening (although it seems they're moving on a little bit, with updates here and there)

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tbstv
(Obviously it's in Japanese)

Stupid earthquake delayed Star Driver.
And also killed a bunch of people, and basically wrecked Japan,
so that's pretty shitty too.
Apparently, it moved the entire country two meters East. Which is pretty.. Impressive?
Maybe not the right word.

>>21
Regarding the nuclear stuff; according to the news I've seen on TV and the internet, there wasn't a melt-down, but there is some kind of radiation leak. Something like 8x the amount of radiation being emitted into the surrounding area. However, I also heard that, while it seems pretty drastic, 8x is really not that much. Although, on the other hand, any nuclear radiation is not a good thing.

Don't quote me on this though. A lot of my info came from the internet, which as we all know, can be pretty misleading. Image related.

I wonder if it'd reach us. I'm from the Philippines which is near Japan.

I pray that everyone will be safe and that nothing worse happens.

I'm from Mexico, I don't think the radiactive wind will affect us to much, but it's not very comfortable to see a chart with a menace going directly to your home..

>>30
Well, I was posting that in reference to misleading internet things.
This is definitely not what's going to happen.
Besides, I think we would have heard about the wave of nuclear fallout heading our way by now.

>>10 I agree. It is very sad indeed. This entire website is pretty much based on a product of Japan, and yet so many people are ignorant of the country's actual culture, which is so much more than just manga and anime.

But regardless of this matter, I pray for Japan's recovery.

I heard the nuclear stuff (bombs?) exploded and that there were once 6, but there are only 2 left now. And another earthquake hit. Also, if the bombs (the last 2 or even just 1 more) explodes, then there's probably a 1% chance that the people in Japan and the neighboring countries will survive. This is really sad. So I suggest people donate, pray, believe, and hope for Japan's recovery.

>>26 ..LOL!! xPxP

>>33 ... What? OTL
No bombs... and no 1% chance of survival....

>>33 Huh? There were no bombs, it was a nuclear power plant or somesuch. I don't know where bombs came from. It was probably an exaggeration from a mishearing, like playing telephone except with the news.

It doesn't diminish the fact that we have to do what we can to help in Japan's recovery, be it donation or simply praying and showing support.