8.8 earthquake hits Japan.

[mchapra]

TOKYO—Japan was struck by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, triggering a 4-meter tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicentre.

In various locations along Japan's coast, TV footage showed severe flooding, with dozens of cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters. 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.

Officials were trying to assess possible damage from the quake but had no immediate details.

The quake that struck 2:46 p.m. was followed by a series of aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later. The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the strength of the first quake to a magnitude 8.8.

The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan. National broadcaster NHK was warning those near the coast to get to safer ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the U.S. state of Hawaii.

The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 380 kilometres northeast of Tokyo.

In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.

In central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms.

Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks.

Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.

Thirty minutes after the quake, tall buildings were still swaying in Tokyo and mobile phone networks were not working. Japan's Coast Guard has set up task force and officials are standing by for emergency contingencies, Coast Guard official Yosuke Oi said.

“I'm afraid we'll soon find out about damages, since the quake was so strong,” he said

Source - http://www.thestar.com/news/world/ar...okyo-buildings

I hope everyone is ok.

[Mariolee]

Source - http://www.thestar.com/news/world/ar...okyo-buildings

I hope everyone is ok.

Just saw this on the news. The resulting flood is deep and flowing fast into the towns. Reminds me immediately of the similar situation with the tsunamis in Indonesia.

[stevencho]

Tsunami warning for Hawaii as well. And alert for the West Coast but we should only see about 6ft waves.

[Reza]

Was just watching that on the news for the last hour or so and they showed vision of a wall of water sweeping across some farm lands. absolutely crazy.

Like Mariolee said, sort of like the Asian Tsunami.

[stevencho]

[Reza]

Tsunami vision[/video]

Thats out of control. It simply dwarfs those greenhouses.

I'm feeling for Japan at the moment.

[MattStar]

My God, I hope Hideo Kojima is safe...

[KoopaDasher]

That has to be a scary situation. I think at least here we forget about these types of things, since even our worst hurricanes never go very far inland. But something like this, and with Japan being just a chain of islands anyway... that has to be devastating.

[HalfSwiss]

This is crazy. I'm thinking Japan is the new Haiti, without the extreme poverty.
Hope it's ok there.

[beardedwalrus]

FUCK YOU, TSUNAMI



Tasteless, I know.

[Luigi53]

No! Shigeru Miyamoto! I hope he's alive!

[rpgfreak]

That's crazy. I feel bad for all the Japanese.

[Mariolee]

Have there been any news of the death toll yet? Or has it mostly just hit buildings and such?

[Luigi53]

Have there been any news of the death toll yet? Or has it mostly just hit buildings and such?

they have said about over a hundred people have been presumed to be dead, but their still not sure.

[YamiGekusu]

I have family in Japan and the Philippines... I hope everyone's okay

[Sarashi]

I hope everyone is ok Mostly Square Enix, only joking.

[Eggboy'13]

It's Godzilla.

[LaserSonic1029]

My family is in Taiwan, hopefully they don't get affected

[coolguy753]

It's Godzilla.

Is that supposed to be funny? People died out there you fuck.

[beardedwalrus]

Is that supposed to be funny? People died out there you fuck.

Oh, lighten up. I laughed.