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| map of Japan and surrounding area is from here |
What follows is from the New York Times. Please click on title below to link back.
Huge Earthquake Triggers Tsunami Off Japan’s Coast
By KEVIN DREW
Published: March 11, 2011
A tsunami hit the coast of northeast Japan on Friday in the aftermath of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake about 80 miles offshore. Television images showed waves of more than 12 feet roaring inland. CNN reported that air and land transportation was severely disrupted.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries but the force of the waves washed away cars on coastal roads and crashed into buildings along the shore, The Associate Press reported.Kyodo News, via Associated Press
An area flooded by the tsunami in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, after an earthquake struck off the northeastern coast.Related
Times Topic: Tidal Waves and Tsunamis
NHK, via Reuters TV
A tsunami carried boats across waters in Kamaishi city port in this still image taken from video footage.NHK, via Associated Press
Houses were washed away by tsunami in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in eastern Japan, after Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the northeastern coast.
A second major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude was reported as aftershocks shook the region.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was magnitude 8.9, which the agency labeled a “mega” quake. The tremor occurred at about 230 miles northeast of Tokyo and at a depth of about 15 miles.
The quake occurred at 2:46 p.m. Tokyo time and its location was off Honshu, Japan’s most populous island.
A tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Japan’s meteorological agency warned that a tsunami as high as 20 feet could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicenter.
The Associated Press reported that a large ship swept away by the tsunami rammed directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, according to footage on public broadcaster NHK.
Japanese television showed major tsunami damage in northern Japan. Video footage also showed buildings on fire in the Odaiba district of Tokyo, The Associated Press reported.
“It just seemed to go on and on,” Katherine Wallace told the BBC, who was in an office building in Tokyo, said of the quake tremor.
I have a friend there who we met when she came here to live with us while studying english. we haven't heard from her but i'm really, really hoping she's okay. fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed too, Dark Daughta.
ReplyDeleteI hope she was in Toyko or Southern Japan, away from the NE region that got most intensely struck by the tsunami. It seems that's where the death toll is growing by the hour. From the Los Angeles Times, *here*:
Japanese media reported at least 1,000 people are presumed dead from Friday's massive 8.9 earthquake, most drowned by the wall of water that swept across the northeast coast of the island nation.
Thousands of others were stranded on rooftops, surrounded by water left by the tsunami that washed over the low-lying farmland of the hardest-hit areas, sweeping away homes, cars, railroads and businesses.
A dam broke early Saturday local time in Fukushima Prefecture, washing away scores more houses in an area where at least 1,800 homes were destroyed by the quake, Kyodo news service said, quoting a Defense Ministry official.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan appealed for calm in the wake of his nation's worst earthquake since authorities began keeping records 140 years ago. In a nationally televised address, he said an emergency response team had been deployed and international aid was en route.
Let me know when you hear from her or find out otherwise, such as on Facebook, that she's okay.