Friday, March 11, 2011

Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

As many are aware, a massive 8.9 earthquake hit the northeast of Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011.

Here is an excerpt from a news article on yahoo:

TOKYO – A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes on record slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away ships, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.

Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii but did not cause major damage. Warnings blanketed the Pacific, putting areas on alert as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West coast. In northeastern Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant was evacuated after the reactor's cooling system failed.

Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture, or state, closest to the epicenter. Another 137 were confirmed killed, with 531 people missing. Police also said 627 people were injured.

I served a mission in Sapporo, Japan in the early 90s, and Sapporo is on Hokkaido, not far from the epicenter of the quake.

The hardest thing for me, is not knowing what is going on there, and if my friends on Hokkaido are alright. Even though I haven't had contact with them in a long time, I still think about them, and I hope they're okay.

4 comments:

TG said...

My nephew is teaching in Sapporo and said all is safe there. They felt the quake, but no damage.

LoraLee Evans said...

I'm glad to know that. Thanks. In Sendai, though, not all of the missionaries are accounted for, yet. Or members either, I'm sure. It will probably be a few days if that, for the missionaries to all be accounted for, communications being down as they are. Oh, I hope no missionaries were hurt.

LoraLee Evans said...

Well, as of this morning, all the missionaries in Sendai are accounted for. That is a relief.

Bill Damery said...

I sent an e-mail to my friend Chieko Miura in Obihiro, Hokkaido on 3/11/11... I have not received a reply yet... Should I be concerned?... Bill Damery Bedford,MA USA