Earthquake 8.9 Magnitude Hits Japan (VIDEO&PHOTOS)

The shocking news for me Tsunami waves hit Hawaii in the early morning hours Friday and were sweeping through the island chain after an earthquake 8.9 magnitude in Japan about 80 miles sparked evacuations throughout the Pacific and as far as the U.S. western coast.

Friday’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake is the fifth largest recorded by the United States Geological Survey since 1900 as follows.
1. 1960 — 9.5 — Chile
2. 1964 — 9.2 — Prince William Sound, Alaska
3. 2004 — 9.1 — Sumatra
4. 1952 — 9.0 — Kamchatka, Russia
5. 2011 — 8.9 — Friday in Japan
6. 2010 — 8.8 — Offshore Maule, Chile

The following updates from various news alerts with reports from blogs and journalists around the world with photos and videos.

The powerful tsunami swept away cars near the coast and news networks have been broadcasting footage of waves sweeping through farmland normally many miles from the coast.

Watch the videos






Japan 8.8 Earthquake – Tsunami on 11th March 2011

Japanese Earthquake / Tsunami TV Coverage March 11, 2011

Crazy whirpool uzumaki thing reported 2 hours after the 8.8 quake in Japan.

Japanese television images, reposted by Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, captured a whirlpool off the eastcoast of Japan.

Waves of muddy waters swept over farmland near the city of Sendai. At Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways.

There are reports of injuries in Tokyo from a massive, magnitude 8.9 earthquake off Japan’s northeastern coast. Japanese TV shows a refinery fire has broken out.

A large fire breaks out near the port Odaiba in Japan after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

Video capturing an explosion at a Japanese oil facility. The exact location was not immediately clear.

The government has confirmed 23 deaths, with the number expected to rise. It follows the 8.9-magnitude earthquake which sent a 4-metre wall of water inland across the Miyagi prefecture . There’s considerable destruction – 200 people have been washed away. Buildings, cars and ships were also swept by the raging waters. Several are missing on Japan’s Sendai island. The first wave has also reached Russia’s Kuril islands to the north, reportedly around a metre high. There are several fires along Japan’s eastern coastline, and 4 million homes are without power. The Prime Minister’s ordered an emergency response team to tackle the disaster – with aircraft scrambled to the worst-affected area. Communication is crippled and Tokyo’s Norita International Airport has been closed. The entire Pacific region is on tsunami alert – with Hawaii braced to be hit within the next few hours.

A friend sent us a video showing a store in Japan where employees, customers and goods on the racks were violently rattled by the earthquake.

Evidently a fan of Japanese animation, posted a claustrophobic video of the earthquake rattling his shelves of books and videotapes.

A tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake washed away buildings along the northeast coast of Japan.

An 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s northeastern coast around 0546 GMT on Friday.


It caused a four-metre tsunami in the port city of Kamishi and its tremors shook buildings in the capital Tokyo, over 300 kilometres away.

Now Taiwan has issued a tsunami warning.

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami 8.9 video footage – Skynews Office.

A massive 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan Friday afternoon. The earthquake shook buildings and damaged roads throughout the country.