Via the New York Times:
- Kamaishi A tsunami more than 13 feet high struck Kamaishi and Miyako at 3:21 pm local time.
- Ofunato A tsunami more than 10 feet high was observed at Ofunato Port. More than 300 houses were washed away in Ofunato city.
- Kesennuma NHK television showed footage of a huge fire sweeping across Kesennuma, a city of more than 70,000 people. Whole blocks appear to be ablaze. Television footage also showed a large ship being swept away and ramming directly into a breakwater.
- Ishinomaki A tsunami over 10 feet high was observed in Ishinomaki city and television footage showed homes being washed away.
- Sendai In Sendai, the closest major city to the epicenter, the government put the official death toll at more than 300. Some 70,000 people evacuated to shelters, according to Kyodo News.
- Soma At 3:50 pm on Friday, a tsunami surging higher than 24 feet struck Soma Port. Many oceanside houses were underwater.
- Oarai A 14-foot tsunami hit Oarai Port at about 4:52 pm on Friday.
- Tokyo Power has been cut to four million homes in and around Tokyo and several fires were seen blazing across the city. Downtown buildings shook violently during the quake.
- Ichihara A large fire erupted at the Cosmo oil refinery and burned out of control with 100-foot high flames.
I actually balked when I read the focus was 10km deep, because that sounded really shallow to me (it is - 70km is considered ‘deep’). Also, you get the fact that tsunamis travel in all freaking directions and you get really worried for everyone else. This is just terrifying. I’m sort of just rationalizing with myself that Japan has good infrastructure and is an EMDC and if any country can cope well with a disaster, it’s them - but knowing that what comes after the disaster might be worse gets to me. It’s not just the dead and the missing… it’s the tens of thousands of people who are now homeless, without shelter and probably without good medical care and that will be the case for months, maybe years to come… =(
A twitter friend was talking about how while she’s safe, her family is worried about food for the next few days. The reality of the situation is just barely starting to trickle into my brain.
(via seanbonner)
