A crack in the earth:
Cars being swept away in the tsunami afterwards:
A refinery burns:
Fire and devastation:
Water, fire, and chaos:
Tsunami on land:
Smoke shrouds the sky:
Destruction:
A now-sideways highway:
Fires burn:
Coverage on Japanese TV in the immediate aftermath:
A fireball from a refinery lights up the sky:
Tremendous fires break out:
Ominous waves:
A hole opens in the ground:
A tsunami swirls off the coast of Japan:
Cars crushed:
Like toys, cars and planes are strewn together in a pile of debris:
An ominous sky:
Boats in the middle of land:
A house begins to topple, roads crumble:
Flames devour homes:
Day breaks:
Walking through rubble:
An explosion at a nuclear plant:
A car climbs a house:
Panic strips a supermarket bare:
Chaos to the horizon:
The tsunami hits:
Another explosion at Fukushima:
EARTHQUAKE 8.9 | TSUNAMI IN JAPAN 11TH MARCH 2011 | TOP 10 PICTURES
9:01EST- It is being reported that the USS Ronald Reagan swam into a "radioactive cloud" outside of Fukushima. The ship has now moved farther away from the plant.
5:31AM,EST 3/14- A third reactor has lost its ability to cool at Fukushima.
10:53EST- A volcano has erupted in Southern Japan.
8:43EST- Sea water is being pumped into the Fukushima nuclear power plant in an attempt to cool the reactor. It is being called a "last ditch effort" to stave off a meltdown.
8:00EST- The death toll is feared to now break 10,000.
7:23AM, EST, 3/13- The Japanese PM just spoke to citizens, assuring them that the government is trying their best to help citizens.
11:05PM, EST- A nuclear meltdown is likely underway at a Japanese power plant.
5:08 AM EST, 3/12- An explosion has been heard at one of Japan's nuclear reactors. This substantially raises fears that the plant will catastrophically meltdown.
8:59EST- Unfortunately, the death toll has eclipsed 1,000.
1:27EST- CNN- "a small radiation leak is possible" from one of Japan's nuclear plants.
1:26EST-A dam has broken in Japan, washing away 1,800 homes.
12:51EST- The death toll has risen to 300, the number of people missing has risen to 500.
12:40 PM EST- President Obama is making a speech right now, but it apparently about green energy, not on the earthquake.
10:39EST- President Obama just got off the phone with the Prime Minister of Japan. Details to emerge later.
10:22EST- Increased waves are set to hit western North America at approximately 11am-12pm, based on longitude.
10:11EST- Boats in the middle of land:
10:08EST- Google Sets Up 2011 Japan Earthquake People Finder.
10:04EST- Several Japanese airports have reopened, solely to support needed medical supplies and needed transportation.
10:00EST- It is now midnight in Japan.
9:58EST- Footage from CNN shows that parts of Japan are still aflame.
9:40EST- 2,000 people evacuated from Japanese nuclear power plant. CNN: nuclear fuel not being cooled properly.
9:39EST- U.S. and various other countries issue travel warning about Japan.
9:37EST- The U.S. military in Japan has pledged support for those in need.
9:28EST- U.S. stocks are expected to open lower.
9:22EST- Reports: there have been 80 aftershocks above magnitude 5.0 since the initial quake.
9:21EST- MSNBC states that it is unlikely that aftershocks will cause additional tsunamis.
9:20EST- Here are all the pictures of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that Pundit Press has gathered. It is being updated every few minutes as well.
9:18EST: MSNBC reports that waves reaching the west coast of North America (Western U.S. specifically) could reach "six to seven feet" in height.
9:15EST- Here is a link to the Red Cross if you want to donate to relief funds.
9:09EST- Reporters in Japan say that the city's transportation has "shut down" because of gridlock, destroyed roads, and cancelled trains and planes.
9:07EST- Japanese police now state that they have found "200-300" bodies.
8:56EST- Watch Live updates from Hawaii:
Streaming .TV shows by Ustream
8:51EST- New reports warn that waves reaching Hawaii now may not be the biggest to arrive. CNN warns people to be careful not to assume the tsunami is over.
8:47EST- Officials warn that there could be aftershocks for weeks.
8:43EST- Reports indicate that the water on the southern shores of Hawaii have only risen two feet. This is good news. However, there are no definitive reports about the northern shores.
7:53EST- CNN meteorologist: incoming tsunami "incredibly, incredibly scary."
7:48EST- Unfortunately, the death toll has risen to 60.
7:46EST- Official says there are 1,400 coast guardsmen ready to aid people in Hawaii.
7:44EST- FEMA says that it is ready for any disaster relief needed.
7:37EST- A tsunami swirls off the coast of Japan (several hours ago):
7:34EST- U.S. officials believe that they will be able to "manage" the tsunami. Navy boats are not leaving harbors in Hawaii.
7:32EST- CNN warns: the first waves to hit an island or mainland from a tsunami is not necessarily the biggest waves. Consider it a calm before the storm.
7:30EST- A crack in the earth:
7:28EST- Stock Market futures are selling off a fair amount, oil prices fall to less than $100 as focus turns away from Middle East to Japan.
7:26EST- The death toll has risen to 50.
7:25EST- Hospitals, elementary schools reportedly "overwhelmed" by injured, people seeking for safety.
7:22EST- Here is the entirety of President Barack Obama's statement on Japan:
7:17EST- Beaches have been closed in California.
7:14EST- Reports say that internet is widely still up in Japan, but trains and phones are down in many parts.
7:11EST- Parts of Indonesia hit with minor tsunami, reported to be slightly less than two feet (half a meter) high.
7:10EST- Parts of Mexico are now included on the tsunami watch, including Cabo San Lucas.
7:08EST- The tsunami warnings for New Zealand and Taiwan has been lifted.
7:07EST- USGS states that the earthquake was officially a magnitude 8.9.
7:04EST- Another eyewitness said that the level of concern was "highly, highly unusual" in Japan. In other words, the quake was so large, that even people used to earthquakes were upset. "Children were screaming," she continued.
7:02EST- There are sad reports of dozens upon dozens of people missing.
6:57EST- Hawaii officials have now refined the expected arrival time of tsunami, now say 8:07EST, 3:07am local time.
6:56EST- CNN reports that this is the fifth strongest earthquake since 1900.
6:55EST- Governor of Hawaii tells citizens to take the tsunami warnings seriously.
6:50EST- Vice President of the United States Joe Biden released a statement, which said, in part, "the thoughts and prayers" of the United States are with Japan.
6:48EST- Eyewitnesses state that "you could tell, it was different" when quake struck. "It was eerie," said one reporter. "You could not stand up."
6:42EST- CNN states that the tsunami that is expected to strike California will hit at 10:00 EST, 7:00am local time.
6:40EST- Fox News now states that the tsunami that will hit Hawaii is estimated to be half a story high.
6:39EST- The death toll has risen to 44.
6:38EST- Official from Hawaii tells people "not to panic."
6:37EST- Hawaiian officials assure that many of their buildings are tsunami-safe.
6:33EST- A picture of a now-sideways highway:
6:29EST- CNN reports that, in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Japanese stock market fell 3%.
6:27EST- The confirmed dead has climbed to 35, and it is feared to rise "significantly."
6:26EST- Hawaii is now evacuating all coasts.
6:24EST- Because of the destruction of Japanese airfields, the U.S. military is now allowing commercial planes to land on their strips.
6:22EST- Conflicting reports about whether "small" islands will be completely washed over by tsunami. Expert on news now says that that will not happen.
6:19EST- It is being reported that a tsunami is set to strike Hawaii at approximately 8:00am EST, 3:00am local.
6:18EST- 32 people in Japan are confirmed dead in the aftermath of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake.
6:16EST- CNN reports malfunctioning in a nuclear plant, but stresses it is NOT a meltdown, according to the Japanese government. Government warns people to stay in their home.
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OSAKA, Japan — Hundreds of people in Japan have died and large swaths of land are on fire or under water after the country’s biggest earthquake on record struck the northeast coast this afternoon, triggering tsunami waves as high as 33 feet.
The 8.9-magnitude quake rocked buildings hundreds of miles to the south, sending petrified office workers into the streets in search of safety.
Transport services were crippled in large parts of northern Japan, while millions of homes suffered power outages. The self-defense forces said that between 60,000 and 70,000 people had been evacuated to 200 shelters in Sendai.
It is too early to gauge the true extent of the devastation but footage from the worst-hit regions suggest the death toll could climb dramatically in the coming days.
International agencies, meanwhile, have issued tsunami alerts across the region amid fears that the waves could engulf low-lying Pacific islands.
Several hours after the earthquake — the fifth strongest recorded anywhere in the world in the past century — police in Sendai said 200 to 300 bodies had been found after a neighborhood was overwhelmed by a wall of water.
A further 88 people have been confirmed dead and another 349 are missing.
The government declared a nuclear power emergency after reports that the cooling system at a nuclear facility in Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo, had malfunctioned. About 3,000 people living nearby have been evacuated, but officials in Tokyo said there was no immediate threat of a radiation leak. The International Atomic Energy Agency said all nuclear power plants in the affected area had shut down safely.
Flames could be seen leaping hundreds of feet into the air from an oil refinery in Chiba, northeast of the capital, while a major explosion was reported at a petrochemical complex in Miyagi prefecture.
Speaking to reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said every effort would be made to “save the country,” and urged people to “stay calm.”
"The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan," he said. ''Our government will make all-out efforts to secure people's safety and minimize the damage caused by the earthquake.”
Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, said: "Our initial assessment indicates that there has already been enormous damage. We will make maximum relief effort based on that assessment."
Thousands of Japanese self-defense force personnel are heading to the quake zone and Japan has accepted offers of help from U.S. military forces based in the country.
Rolling news coverage broadcast apocalyptic scenes of swaths of farmland in Sendai, nearly 200 miles north of Tokyo, being eaten up by a 30-foot-high tsunami. The wall of muddy water swept up homes, cars and even large boats in port as it continued its relentless journey inland.
Local media reports said the quake, which has been followed by as many as 50 strong aftershocks, has sparked at least 80 fires in cities and towns along a 1,300-mile-long stretch of coastline.
Tsunami warnings remain in place along Japan’s entire eastern coastline, while meteorological officials have said that the region can expect strong tremors in the coming hours and days.
An unknown number of people are missing after a train was reportedly engulfed by incoming waters, and a ship carrying 100 people has been swept out to sea.
In Tokyo, thousands of spooked office workers faced a night in evacuation shelters after the quake crippled subway and train services. Bullet trains to the north of Japan have been cancelled and air services remain sketchy across the country.
“There was a great rattling as things started to fall off the shelves in my office,” Chris Bunting, a British resident of Tokyo, told GlobalPost. “Some of the other staff were yelping. Others of a more practical frame of mind were trying to hold the moveable things down. I just stood rooted to the spot.
“After the room stopped rattling, everyone in my ninth floor office started trying to get in touch with their families and friends. The telephone and mobile networks were down, but the internet seemed to be working. I eventually managed to contact my pregnant wife, who is due in a couple of weeks, by email chat.”
Japan was also counting the potential financial cost of the earthquake, fearing a repeat of the chaos that followed the Kobe earthquake in January 1995, in which more than 6,400 people died.
The Bank of Japan said it would act quickly to stabilize markets after the yen fell against the dollar and euro in the minutes after the earthquake. The Nikkei stock index, meanwhile, fell to a five-week low, but the Tokyo stock exchange will open for business as usual on Monday.
Jefferies International Limited, a global investment banking group, said overall losses could reach $10 billion.
The earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time and registered magnitude 8.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It the biggest to hit the country since records began in the late 1800s.
Japan's northeast Pacific coast is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes — residents were reminded of that when a smaller tremor shook the area earlier this week but caused no damage or injuries. An 8.1 quake in 1933 killed more than 3,000 people in the area.
Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, accounting for about a fifth of all quakes worldwide of magnitude 6 or greater. The country’s worst earthquake occurred in 1923, killing 143,000 people in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
While there was little anyone could do to prevent the devastation wreaked on the coastline, Japan’s strict building regulations and the generally high level of earthquake readiness among its 127 million people have almost certainly prevented an even greater catastrophe.
9:01EST- It is being reported that the USS Ronald Reagan swam into a "radioactive cloud" outside of Fukushima. The ship has now moved farther away from the plant.
5:31AM,EST 3/14- A third reactor has lost its ability to cool at Fukushima.
10:53EST- A volcano has erupted in Southern Japan.
8:43EST- Sea water is being pumped into the Fukushima nuclear power plant in an attempt to cool the reactor. It is being called a "last ditch effort" to stave off a meltdown.
8:00EST- The death toll is feared to now break 10,000.
7:23AM, EST, 3/13- The Japanese PM just spoke to citizens, assuring them that the government is trying their best to help citizens.
11:05PM, EST- A nuclear meltdown is likely underway at a Japanese power plant.
5:08 AM EST, 3/12- An explosion has been heard at one of Japan's nuclear reactors. This substantially raises fears that the plant will catastrophically meltdown.
8:59EST- Unfortunately, the death toll has eclipsed 1,000.
1:27EST- CNN- "a small radiation leak is possible" from one of Japan's nuclear plants.
1:26EST-A dam has broken in Japan, washing away 1,800 homes.
12:51EST- The death toll has risen to 300, the number of people missing has risen to 500.
12:40 PM EST- President Obama is making a speech right now, but it apparently about green energy, not on the earthquake.
10:39EST- President Obama just got off the phone with the Prime Minister of Japan. Details to emerge later.
10:22EST- Increased waves are set to hit western North America at approximately 11am-12pm, based on longitude.
10:11EST- Boats in the middle of land:
10:04EST- Several Japanese airports have reopened, solely to support needed medical supplies and needed transportation.
10:00EST- It is now midnight in Japan.
9:58EST- Footage from CNN shows that parts of Japan are still aflame.
9:40EST- 2,000 people evacuated from Japanese nuclear power plant. CNN: nuclear fuel not being cooled properly.
9:39EST- U.S. and various other countries issue travel warning about Japan.
9:37EST- The U.S. military in Japan has pledged support for those in need.
9:28EST- U.S. stocks are expected to open lower.
9:22EST- Reports: there have been 80 aftershocks above magnitude 5.0 since the initial quake.
9:21EST- MSNBC states that it is unlikely that aftershocks will cause additional tsunamis.
9:20EST- Here are all the pictures of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that Pundit Press has gathered. It is being updated every few minutes as well.
9:18EST: MSNBC reports that waves reaching the west coast of North America (Western U.S. specifically) could reach "six to seven feet" in height.
9:15EST- Here is a link to the Red Cross if you want to donate to relief funds.
9:09EST- Reporters in Japan say that the city's transportation has "shut down" because of gridlock, destroyed roads, and cancelled trains and planes.
9:07EST- Japanese police now state that they have found "200-300" bodies.
8:56EST- Watch Live updates from Hawaii:
Streaming .TV shows by Ustream
8:51EST- New reports warn that waves reaching Hawaii now may not be the biggest to arrive. CNN warns people to be careful not to assume the tsunami is over.
8:47EST- Officials warn that there could be aftershocks for weeks.
8:43EST- Reports indicate that the water on the southern shores of Hawaii have only risen two feet. This is good news. However, there are no definitive reports about the northern shores.
7:53EST- CNN meteorologist: incoming tsunami "incredibly, incredibly scary."
7:48EST- Unfortunately, the death toll has risen to 60.
7:46EST- Official says there are 1,400 coast guardsmen ready to aid people in Hawaii.
7:44EST- FEMA says that it is ready for any disaster relief needed.
7:37EST- A tsunami swirls off the coast of Japan (several hours ago):
7:32EST- CNN warns: the first waves to hit an island or mainland from a tsunami is not necessarily the biggest waves. Consider it a calm before the storm.
7:30EST- A crack in the earth:
7:26EST- The death toll has risen to 50.
7:25EST- Hospitals, elementary schools reportedly "overwhelmed" by injured, people seeking for safety.
7:22EST- Here is the entirety of President Barack Obama's statement on Japan:
Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis. The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial. The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy. We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials as I have instructed FEMA to be ready to assist Hawaii and the rest of the US states and territories that could be affected.7:19EST- There is now less than 50 minutes to when the tsunami is expected to reach Hawaii.
7:17EST- Beaches have been closed in California.
7:14EST- Reports say that internet is widely still up in Japan, but trains and phones are down in many parts.
7:11EST- Parts of Indonesia hit with minor tsunami, reported to be slightly less than two feet (half a meter) high.
7:10EST- Parts of Mexico are now included on the tsunami watch, including Cabo San Lucas.
7:08EST- The tsunami warnings for New Zealand and Taiwan has been lifted.
7:07EST- USGS states that the earthquake was officially a magnitude 8.9.
7:04EST- Another eyewitness said that the level of concern was "highly, highly unusual" in Japan. In other words, the quake was so large, that even people used to earthquakes were upset. "Children were screaming," she continued.
7:02EST- There are sad reports of dozens upon dozens of people missing.
6:57EST- Hawaii officials have now refined the expected arrival time of tsunami, now say 8:07EST, 3:07am local time.
6:56EST- CNN reports that this is the fifth strongest earthquake since 1900.
6:55EST- Governor of Hawaii tells citizens to take the tsunami warnings seriously.
6:50EST- Vice President of the United States Joe Biden released a statement, which said, in part, "the thoughts and prayers" of the United States are with Japan.
6:48EST- Eyewitnesses state that "you could tell, it was different" when quake struck. "It was eerie," said one reporter. "You could not stand up."
6:42EST- CNN states that the tsunami that is expected to strike California will hit at 10:00 EST, 7:00am local time.
6:40EST- Fox News now states that the tsunami that will hit Hawaii is estimated to be half a story high.
6:39EST- The death toll has risen to 44.
6:38EST- Official from Hawaii tells people "not to panic."
6:37EST- Hawaiian officials assure that many of their buildings are tsunami-safe.
6:33EST- A picture of a now-sideways highway:
6:27EST- The confirmed dead has climbed to 35, and it is feared to rise "significantly."
6:26EST- Hawaii is now evacuating all coasts.
6:24EST- Because of the destruction of Japanese airfields, the U.S. military is now allowing commercial planes to land on their strips.
6:22EST- Conflicting reports about whether "small" islands will be completely washed over by tsunami. Expert on news now says that that will not happen.
6:19EST- It is being reported that a tsunami is set to strike Hawaii at approximately 8:00am EST, 3:00am local.
6:18EST- 32 people in Japan are confirmed dead in the aftermath of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake.
6:16EST- CNN reports malfunctioning in a nuclear plant, but stresses it is NOT a meltdown, according to the Japanese government. Government warns people to stay in their home.
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