This is the liveblog for coverage of Japan's earthquake's aftermath and the tsunami moving through the pacific.
Recent earthquakes
Time Magnitude Location
20 minutes ago 7.9 Near the east coast of Honshu, Japan
12 hours ago 6.5 Bali Sea
3 days ago 5.0 Off the coast of Oregon
http://earthquake.usgs.gov
Update: USGS has updated earthquake to 8.8
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/...
Another Update: USGS has updated earthquake to 8.9
Estimated tsunami arrival times: http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/...
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/...
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center: http://www.weather.gov/...
Widespread warning, watch and adviory in effect. WARNING now includes Hawaii. Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Hawaii. WARNING for west coast (just upgraded from Watch.)
There has been a 7.9* earthquake in northeastern Japan that shook buildings in Tokyo.
* Update: This has been updated to 8.9
Japan's weather agency has issued a tsunami warning "as high as 3 meters * ." (From caption on AlJazeera English TV.) The warning area is large, and includes Russia.
* This has been updated to 6 meters.
Early report:
A major 7.2 * - magnitude quake has hit Japan, swaying buildings in Tokyo and triggering a tsunami warning, but causing no reported casualties or damage. *
The quake struck late on Wednesday morning, about 10km below the Pacific seafloor. The epicentre was about 160km offshore and 430km northeast of Tokyo.
The Japan meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the east coast of the main Honshu island, where a 24-inch wave was first reported at Ofunato port half an hour after the quake.
Police said they had received no reports of casualties from the quake, or from a 5.6-magnitude aftershock that struck nearby about 12 minutes later.
http://english.aljazeera.net/...
* Update: This has been updated to 8.9
* At least one death has been reported. Extensive damage has been reported.
There was a 7.3 earthquake on Wednesday that caused very little damage and created a small tsunami that caused no damage.
I can see on AJE footage from Japanese television showing something on fire in an urban area, black smoke.
A French news agency has reported that a 1 meter tsunami has already hit. They are showing pictures of a coastal city. There are floods with cars floating.
UPDATES:
From AlJazeera English (AJE) TV live:
1 meter tsunami hit Onahama city, a port city, in fukashima?
Geophysicist on phone on AJE says tsunami warning extends to Taiwan, Indonesia and as far as Hawaii
US geological says 8.8 magnitude at depth of 24km hit Japan
There is footage of the parliament in session, building shaking
Damage will hit large parts of pacific region
Tsunami warning issued for: japan, russia, marcus islands, marianas
Numerous injuries, no official reports on injured/dead
Footage of water moving back out to sea in coastal city
Remember that the Ricter magnitude scale is a base-10 logarithmic scale, so for example a 9.0 is ten times stronger than an 8.0.
Various News Sources:
Japan hit by massive earthquake
Japan issued its most serious tsunami warning, saying a wave as high as 6m (20ft) could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
Television showed a building on fire in the Odaiba district of Tokyo, although it was not immediately clear if the blaze was connected to the earthquake.
Other footage showed water levels rising quickly in the coastal town of Miyako in Iwate prefecture on Japan's northeast Pacific coast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
TOKYO — Japan was struck by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, triggering a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter.
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.
http://www.chron.com/...
AJE: A caller from Beijing says that the quake was felt slightly there, which they feel is unusual.
AJE: This is terrible. There is footage of a wave of water moving across a land area. I'm not sure where this footage is coming from. It's hard to tell how tall the wave is because the footage is from above. It doesn't look that tall but it's moving quickly and carrying a lot of debris. It's moving over what looks like farm areas. The debris moving in the water is very dense. There is footage of another city, a port city, with boats being driven inland into raised highways, water rising to window levels.
AJE: Live footage from Miyagi of large wave moving toward land. AJE is saying wave but I see multiple waves. It's not like normal waves. The water around it is white (churned) and it is a long, long wave, alla long the coastline.
AJE: Expert on tsunamis says this will move toward northwest and southeast.
AJE: USGS has updated to 8.9 now.
AJE: Live footage shows large round tanks on fire at an oil refinery. Reports of an airport in Miyagi being hit by a 10 meter tsunami.
Update from tatamiburns in the comment thread:
Osaka (6+ / 0-)
Today was junior high graduation all over Osaka. Fortunately the ceremony was over. The quake wasn't huge here but it wasn't small. It went on for a long time, and we all went out on the baseball field just in case.
Japanese PM is speaking, saying that some of the nuclear power plants shut down automatically, and that no nuclear material/radiation has been released. To be more specific, the interpreter said none was confirmed to have been released.
AJE: 8 people confirmed dead.
Tsunami Warning Center:
A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR
JAPAN / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / WAKE IS. /
TAIWAN / YAP / PHILIPPINES / MARSHALL IS. / BELAU / MIDWAY IS. /
POHNPEI / CHUUK / KOSRAE / INDONESIA / PAPUA NEW GUINEA /
NAURU / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / KIRIBATI / HOWLAND-BAKER /
HAWAII / TUVALU / PALMYRA IS. / VANUATU / TOKELAU / JARVIS IS. /
WALLIS-FUTUNA / SAMOA / AMERICAN SAMOA / COOK ISLANDS / NIUE /
AUSTRALIA / FIJI / NEW CALEDONIA / TONGA / MEXICO /
KERMADEC IS / FR. POLYNESIA / NEW ZEALAND / PITCAIRN /
GUATEMALA / EL SALVADOR / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / ANTARCTICA /
PANAMA / HONDURAS / CHILE / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / PERU
http://www.weather.gov/...
Japan earthquake: Hawai'i braces for tsunami
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for Hawai'i following tonight's 8.9 earthquake in Tokyo, with the first wave expected to hit the islands at 2:59 a.m. Hawaiian time. "Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property," the warning states, and sirens sounded a few minutes ago, at 9:59 p.m.
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Aftershocks continued to rock the region as images on Japanese television showed cars and boats being swept away by tsunami waters.
Several areas were submerged in water and buildings engulfed in flames.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
Tsunami warning issued for Hawaii, Pacific:
Zone includes Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South America
"A tsunami has been generated that could cause damage along the coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center's bulletin said. "Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property."
A tsunami watch was also issued for the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California as well as parts of Alaska, The Oregonian newspaper reported. The paper said any wave which reached the coast could hit just before 7:30 a.m. local time Friday.
The warning also includes Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Central and South America. The coast of North America is not included in the warning
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
From Deoliver47 in the comments:
Google person finder has been set (7+ / 0-)
up:
In Japanese:
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/...
In English
http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/...
AJE: Japanese media reports 19 people dead; Japanese government reports 5 people dead.
WATCH for west coast (US) is now upgraded to WARNING:
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/...
Tsunami Watch Upgraded to Warning for West Coast
The National Weather Service has upgraded a tsunami watch to a tsunami warning for the West Coast including California.
The warning is in effect for coastal areas of California after a reported 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan Thursday night, a National Weather Service official said.
...
Sea levels are expected to rise off the coast of California by less than a foot by 7:30 a.m. in response to the earthquake, Anderson said.
http://belmont-ca.patch.com/...
Report from infinite jest in the comments:
Intense (6+ / 0-)
I live in Nagano - the tremors were strong here but no severe damage. Luckily we are well inland. Serious times.
by infinite jest on Fri Mar 11, 2011 at 05:04:21 AM EST
Hawaiians brace for 6-foot tsunami waves
"These are not like surf waves," he said. "These waves effectively wrap around islands, so all coasts will be affected."
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center officials warned that "urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property. Tsunami waves effectively wrap around islands. All shores are at risk no matter which direction they face."
McCreary said the waves would reach the island of Kauai first and would take between half an hour and an hour to cross the state.
http://www.latimes.com/...
Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant under state of emergency after quake
The chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said the measure was a precaution and the Fukushima No 1 power plant was not in immediate danger.
The plant had shut down but there was a mechanical failure in the reactor cooling system after a power failure. The reactor core remains hot and still needs cooling even after it is shut down.
"We launched the measure so we can be fully prepared for the worst scenario," said Edano. "We are using all our might to deal with the situation."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
AJE: Just now said that one of Japan's bullet trains is reportedly missing
AJE: "At least 60 confirmed dead following massive earthquake and tsunami"
AJE: Someone calling from Kona, no one allowed within 4 blocks of coastline, people are calm. Report coming in from Guam said wave was 8-9 feet. Wave expected to hit Hawaii within minutes
CNN: US ships to remain in Pearl Harbor
Watching US cable news channels (commercials all the time, still having interviews with WaPo journalists instead of getting live interviews and footage from Hawaii) is incredibly frustrating compared to watching AJE which provides call-in interviews and footage all the time. FoxNews has some video, saying waves have reached Kauai (but no video of Kauai.)
From Twitter:
peterkay? KHON reporting slow rise in Waikiki #hitsunami
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center As of 3:32AM HST NAWILIWILI KAUAI 0.49M / 1.6FT 52MIN BARBERS PT HI 0.70M / 2.3FT...
KHON: Sarah Blaine? Kauai spokeswoman on phone: Not too much significant activity. No "all clear" yet.
KHON: Pearl Harbor had a half meter surge. There is some more activity in Waikiki
WaPo: Tsunami waves slam Hawaii as storm sweeps islands
Tsunami waves reach Hawaii
KHON: Reporting much less wave action, seems calmer now; cautioned this does not mean danger is passed. Wondering if it will be a nonevent.
This is liveblogging, not Vietnam...there are Rules!