The BBC reports that a Tsunami hits Japan after massive quake

The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan since records began has struck the country’s north-east and triggered a devastating tsunami.

Japanese TV showed cars, ships and buildings swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude quake.

A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant but officials said there were no radiation leaks.

At least 60 people have been killed by the quake, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.

The death toll is expected to rise significantly.

Some reports quote Japanese police as saying 200 to 300 bodies have been found in the port city of Sendai.

There is a passenger train that ran along the coast missing, so the death toll will definitely be higher. Shemya in the Aleutians and Hawaii have already detected the Tsunami, which registered at better than 5 feet at Midway.

I can’t even imagine the force of an 8.9 earthquake. They are having aftershocks above 7.

The ABC has a graphic on Earthquake comparisons. This one fits between Chile and Sumatra. It is at the convergence of the North American, Eurasian, Pacific, and Filipino plates.

Time to ask “What’s for lunch?” because the first team into Anvik wins the First Musher to the Yukon Award – a seven-course meal and $5,000 for dessert. Everyone gets to enjoy running into the wind coming down the Yukon River valley until they reach Kaltag. Teams have to take an 8-hour rest somewhere along the Yukon.

Update: Hugh is eating well.

Beyond Grayling

1 Hugh Neff (35)
2 John Baker (53)
3 Lance Mackey (17)
4 Ray Redington, Jr (3)
5 Sonny Lindner (52)
6 Jessie Royer (58)
7 Sebastian Schnuelle (31)
8 Sven Haltmann (45)
9 Ramey Smyth (30)
10 Hans Gatt (23) [Read more →]

March 11^th, 2004, Madrid

Nuestros profundos condolencias en vuestra perdida.

Todos somos Madrileños.

M-11

BBC In Depth

Fight or Flight

What are you up to?

[Editor: I saw Tip catching some rays on the pump house and pulled out the camera. Her reaction was very strange. She is a “friendly” feral, and yet she went into a crouch and was ready to flee. I have taken a number of pictures of her before, but she has never reacted like this.]

Friday Ark