I get it now, it was way off the coast. The usual news sources hadn't mentioned that.
Even in Japan, there would be big damage if the quake was centered inland.
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Major tsunami damage in northern Japan
By MALCOLM FOSTER, Associated Press

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.

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 six miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) 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

watching news right now and looks pretty bad
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Thoughts and prayers to everyone over there. Seeing the footage of that wave going over farmland is nuts.

Watching this on NHK was unbelievable. Prayers for survivors.

I am not sure I heard it right but did they say there were four million buildings without power in Tokyo?? People will not be able to get home if they are in town and some mobile phones did not work. Altogether a terrible situation. So far I have only seen damage as the tsunami rolled in but I did not see any actual earthquake damage. that will take time to deal with,when and if the water recedes.

I learned to hate (be terrified of) earthquakes in 1989 in San Francisco.

But the one that hit Japan today makes the S.F. quake look like a piker.

8.9! Followed almost immediately by a 24 foot tsunami.

I've spent the last couple of hours bopping between CNN and NHK and Reuters, and I'm pretty horrified.

One of the Japanese officials just mentioned that it's the largest Quake to hit Japan in recorded history.

Jeez.
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WE had a few disasters already this year, but this one looks like it will dwarf them all...

PRAY FOR JAPAN
hope everyone is ok..
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NHK streaming:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk%E7%B7%8F%E5%90%88%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC

JR has cancelled services so everybody's stuck. Never seen anything like that tsunami.

Btw, have you noticed how relatively calm everyone is? If something like that hit here, there would looting, people would be going nuts, etc. etc.

Death toll is going up. So heartbreaking.

watching the HUGE, and i say H-U-G-E!, tsunami in the news was so shocking... Japan is already an earthquake prone country but this one's so scary... just imagine these kinds of quakes happening in other countries in the Pacific... i just wish the death toll won't rise big time
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gaijinmark wrote:

Btw, have you noticed how relatively calm everyone is? If something like that hit here, there would looting, people would be going nuts, etc. etc.

Yup.

If something that big hit here, people would be practically killing each other to survive.

if it's in the US, i would totally agree... but if it's here in PH, i doubt it
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Takoyama wrote:

Death toll is going up. So heartbreaking.

Yes a few hundred

A lot of people are without power in Aomori too. Must be freezing up there!

Rather odd: Some people at D-Addicts have posted torrents of the earthquake coverage....

Live earthquake map: http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/

bmwracer wrote:

Rather odd: Some people at D-Addicts have posted torrents of the earthquake coverage....

Were they subbed?

Takoyama wrote:

Were they subbed?

Heh, I didn't bother to ask... Don't know how many seeders there are, either.

bmwracer wrote:

Yup. If something that big hit here, people would be practically killing each other to survive.

People would loot your car here if you got a flat tire because of a pot hole.