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Earthquake/tsunami in Tohoku, North East Japan (11th March 2011)


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More please!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HrO2H4Sraw   You'd think they might put in some of the overly loud throat noises and he would do a big "ahhhhhhhhhh" at the end. Come on, where's th

Hundreds of people are feared dead and injured after a huge earthquake struck Japan early today.

 

Minutes after the earthquake, measuring 8.4 magnitude, struck 150 miles north of Tokyo in the Miyagi prefecture at 2.46 local time, a four metre hight tsunami swept into the coastal port of Kamaishi, sweeping ships and cars away and inundating warehouses. Cars and entire houses were also swept off in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture and fires burned out of controlafter it was inundated by a 7.3 metre wave.

 

Horrifying television coverage showed the tsunami engulfing towns and countryside in Miyagi, sweeping away hundreds of homes and cars. It was followed by a fast moving second tsunami.

 

A huge plume of black smoke hovered over the port area of Tokyo, as fires broke out in the industrial zone and workers threw themselves under their desks as buildings shook violently. In Tokyo, a number of people were after a roof collapsed at a hall where a graduation ceremony for 600 students was being held.

 

Within minutes of the earthquake, which was centred 80 miles off Japan’s eastern coast at a depth of just six miles, a tsunami alert was issued for the whole Japanese coast and the north Pacific including Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Micronesia and Hawaii as the meteorological office warned of a possible 32 foot wave. It later extended the warning to Australia,NZ and the South American Pacific coast including Mexico, Chile and Peru.

 

Narita airport in Tokyo closed, bullet trains were cancelled and nuclear plants shut down. Sendai airport was completely indundated by the tsunami.

 

Naoto Kan, the Prime Minister said in an address to parliament: “The government will do everything possible to minimise the damage. it will do its utmost.â€

 

It was one of the biggest earthquakes ever to hit Japan. We felt it strongly in my office, he 10th floor of a modern building in Tokyo. After the initial big jolt we could feel strong rattling and swaying which last for at least a minute. An aftershock minutes later felt even worse. I sheltered under my desk and through the window could see other workers in buildings across the street also taking refuge.

 

In 16 years in Japan I have not felt such a strong earthquake.

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Listening to BBC now "and we are STILL having aftershocks".

We had them for literally 3 months after Chuetsu and the first month it was many each day, I doubt they will stop anytime today!

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Just watched the footage, **** that is scary! The Tsunami warning is widened to the entire Pacific rim... including Aus, NZ, Mexico etc.

 

Thoughts and good vibes to all in the area. Stay safe and keep your family safe too!

 

veryshocked

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veryshocked

 

My thoughts are with you all.

Been out all day and just about to race out again - so so sad to hear!

Sending all the positive vibes for all our SJ family in Nihon to be safe and sound.

XX

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Originally Posted By: big-will
By far the strongest I've felt there.
veryshocked

I was in a meeting cussing the fact that I had to sit there and moaning about all sorts. Those things don't seem quite as important now.

It's incredible and awesome (the bad meaning) how nature can in an instant turn many lives around.


Yes, it is crazy how trivial our daily problems seem when compared to ones like these.

There may not be thousands dead, but the economic impact will be felt by a lot of people. Cars, houses, etc all destroyed by it.
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Tsunami alerts have been extended to the following countries among others:

 

Russia

Papua New Guinea

Australia

New Zealand

Fiji

Mexico

Guatemala

El Salvador

Costa Rica

Nicaragua

Panama

Honduras

Chile

Ecuador

Colombia

Peru

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