Earthquakes in Japan 2011.03.11.

Rescuers struggled to reach survivors on Saturday morning as Japan reeled after an earthquake and a tsunami struck in deadly tandem. The 8.9-magnitude earthquake set off a devastating tsunami that sent walls of water washing over coastal cities in the north. Concerns mounted over possible radiation leaks from two nuclear plants near the earthquake zone.
The death toll from the tsunami and earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in Japan, was in the hundreds, but Japanese news media quoted government officials as saying that it would almost certainly rise to more than 1,000. About 200 to 300 bodies were found along the waterline in Sendai, a port city in northeastern Japan and the closest major city to the epicenter.

Thousands of homes were destroyed, many roads were impassable, trains and buses were not running, and power and cellphones remained down. On Saturday morning, the JR rail company said that there were three trains missing in parts of two northern prefectures.

While the loss of life and property may yet be considerable, many lives were certainly saved by Japan's extensive disaster preparedness and strict construction codes. Japan's economy was spared a more devastating blow because the earthquake hit far from its industrial heartland.

Japanese officials on Saturday issued broad evacuation orders for people living in the vicinity of two separate nuclear power plants that had experienced breakdowns in their cooling systems as a result of the earthquake, and they warned that small amounts of radiation could leak from both plants.

On Friday, at 2:46 p.m. Tokyo time, the quake struck. First came the roar and rumble of the temblor, shaking skyscrapers, toppling furniture and buckling highways. Then waves as high as 30 feet rushed onto shore, whisking away cars and carrying blazing buildings toward factories, fields and highways.

By Saturday morning, Japan was filled with scenes of desperation, as stranded survivors called for help and rescuers searched for people buried in the rubble. Kazushige Itabashi, an official in Natori City, one of the areas hit hardest by the tsunami, said several districts in an area near Sendai's airport were annihilated.

Rescuers found 870 people in one elementary school on Saturday morning and were trying to reach 1,200 people in the junior high school, closer to the water. There was no electricity and no water for people in shelters. According to a newspaper, the Mainichi Shimbun, about 600 people were on the roof of a public grade school, in Sendai City. By Saturday morning, Japan's Self-Defense Forces and firefighters had evacuated about 150 of them.

On the rooftop of Chuo Hospital in the city of Iwanuma, doctors and nurses were waving white flags and pink umbrellas, according to TV Asahi. On the floor of the roof, they wrote "Help" in English, and "Food" in Japanese. The reporter, observing the scene from a helicopter, said, "If anyone in the City Hall office is watching, please help them."

The station also showed scenes of people stranded on a bridge, cut off by water on both sides near the mouth of the Abukuma River in Miyagi Prefecture.

People were frantically searching for their relatives. Fumiaki Yamato, 70, was in his second home in a mountain village outside of Sendai when the earthquake struck. He spoke from his car as he was driving toward Sendai trying to find the rest of his family. While it usually takes about an hour to drive to the city, parts of the road were impassable. "I'm getting worried," he said as he pulled over to take a reporter's call. "I don't know how many hours it's going to take."

Japanese, accustomed to frequent earthquakes, were stunned by this one's magnitude and the more than 100 aftershocks, many equivalent to major quakes.

"I never experienced such a strong earthquake in my life," said Toshiaki Takahashi, 49, an official at Sendai City Hall. "I thought it would stop, but it just kept shaking and shaking, and getting stronger."

Train service was shut down across central and northern Japan, including Tokyo, and air travel was severely disrupted.




GOD BLESS THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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[hawakolune1]

This is not a movie putos

[s1lio]

Извинете, но я не понимаю, как можно оценивать данную катастрофу "Понравилось" или "Не понравилось" Мы потеряли 20 тысяч человек, а кто- то ещё находит силы в оценке...

[Hermoor]

no god can't bless him since he doesn't exist. Go fuck yourself

[kcido14]

@dduenas08 We have different ways of looking at what it means to be humane. I personally think praying and wishing is actually inhumane, donating and helping people rebuild is more humane, but I already said that.

Please stop throwing personal attacks on people you don't know, you can't tell me people like me lack humanity simply because i don't agree with your wishful thinking, so please refrain from unnecessary insults you "fucking asshole"

I hope everybody loves you

[dduenas08]

@kcido14 Your reply to my argument is incorrect. My argument wasn't about how prayers could help people in need. What i was arguing about was about people like you. So let me explain more in detail. You are a person that will post a comment showing your lack of humanity. That was my argument. This video shows that we are all human with the capability to feel. Your comment shows that you dont have that. Next time you reply identify the argument. This is my last reply.

[kcido14]

@dduenas08 There is nothing wrong with giving them hope when they lost their loved ones, but giving them false hope like, a sky daddy will do you justice when you DIE is simply insulting.

If you want to help Japan, support the charities and the red cross with donations, not by telepathically speaking to the invisible sky daddy in the sky

This is mother nature reminding Us, that Shit Happens, deal with it

[kcido14]

@dduenas08 do me a favour and tell me exactly what your prayers have done, do you even know what a prayer is? What it does? and explain to me whom you praying to, I hope it's not that all-loving, all merciful, all powerful being that can do anything, I guess that being was busy having lunch when the disaster happens. He works in mysterious ways right?

Praying for people in japan is insulting them, what praying does is it makes YOU feel like you are helping but actually you are doing fuck all.

[dduenas08]

@kcido14 Is having the people of Japan in your prayers at this moment not praying for the quake and tsunami not to hit Japan you fucking asshole. Its people like you that dont have a sense of humanity. Think of all the people that got trapped in the water and died. Think of families holding each other together while the waters were ripping them apart. Think about the people that their last thoughts were "I never told you how much I care" or "how much I love you". I hope no one will ever love you

[kcido14]

Too bad your prayers and wishes didn't stop the earth quake and tsunami in the first place

[chamboy15]

Japan will be in my prayers and wishes.