At 2.46pm local time yesterday, a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Japan. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan and the 5th biggest ever recorded in the world. As this is Japan, people were well-prepared for the earthquake and death from the exact earthquake was amazingly low. However the earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami that slammed into north-eastern Japan and that was a different thing.
The earthquake shook buildings, but the tsunami swept away everything in its path. According to reports, the tsunami reached a height of 10 metres and went around 10 km inland. Japanese authorities are still trying to count the dead and missing but they had reported that a ferry carrying 100 people was swept away by the tsunami and 4 passenger trains with people inside are missing. The tsunami was so powerful that it even reached America.
This is just the latest big earthquake to hit the world and I can’t help but wonder why. In Feb last year, there was a magnitude-8.8 earthquake that shook Chile and less than a month ago, a 6.3 earthquake almost flatten the city of Christchurch in New Zealand. Still that is for later, right now the most important thing is to save lives.
Here's wishing the best for all Japanese!
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