Japan hit by 8.9 quake and following tsunami

[Pedrito]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/japan.quake/index.html?hpt=T1

Massive 8.9 quake, tsunamis hit Japan

Tokyo (CNN) -- An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday, triggering tsunamis and sending a massive body of water filled with debris that included boats and houses inching toward highways.

The epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from the capital, Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said. But residents there felt the tremors.

The quake rattled buildings and toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers toward highways.


Such a large earthquake at such a shallow depth creates a lot of energy, said Shenza Chen of the U.S. Geological Survey.

It caused a power outage in about 4 million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

A tsunami in the Pacific was moving closer to other shorelines in other countries, said CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.

It triggered tsunami warnings for various countries, including Japan and Russia, the National Weather Service said.

"Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region," it said.

"Based on all available data a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter."

The quake was the latest in a series in the region this week.

Early Thursday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck off the coast of Honshu.

A day earlier, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck off of Honshu, the country's meteorological agency said.

The largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the USGS said.

[Insert mandatory tasteless Godzilla joke here]

L.

[lustindarkness]

Looking at this right now. Video of the shaking pretty intense. Expected tsunami is what they talk about the most now.

[CountDeMoney]

Feel asleep on the sofa, woke up to the tsunami footage.  That's some of the most surreal video I've seen in a long time.

[Pedrito]

The parking lot swept away, and the guys over the bridge watching the boats tugged off the harbor by the force of water.

L.

[Caliga]

CNN breaking news: "Officials fear tsunami may have washed over entire islands in Pacific."

[CountDeMoney]

It was the helicopter footage of the masssive tsunami surge across all that farmland that bothered me;  there were cars and trucks attempting to outrace it, and they didn't.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

It was the helicopter footage of the masssive tsunami surge across all that farmland that bothered me;  there were cars and trucks attempting to outrace it, and they didn't.

Yeah, that footage is like a bad Hollywood disaster movie come to life.

[CountDeMoney]

Japanese School Girl futures are going to go through the roof when the markets open today.

[Neil]

It's a bad day to have a lovely coastal villa in Japan.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Japanese School Girl futures are going to go through the roof when the markets open today.

There's always the chick CNN has in Tokyo.

[Josquius]

Fuck. Really bad stuff.

Bad for me personally too, been hoping to go to Japan later this year.

[Grey Fox]

The country isn't THAT small. It won't disappear overnite.

[Caliga]

msnbc is saying that Hawaii is about to be impacted by a ~6 foot tsunami.

[Admiral Yi]

The country isn't THAT small. It won't disappear overnite.

he he

[Caliga]

Weather Service expects 6.5-foot tsunamis
Tsunamis of 6.5 feet are now anticipated in Haleiwa on the North Shore, 6.2 feet in Hilo; and 3 feet in Honolulu Harbor, the National Weather Service said.