prayers for Japan.

[Plaidman]

Huge deaths are happening.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_...pan_earthquake

Tsaumi warnings all the way to Oregon coast too.

[pitmonkey]

Call out to Japan

Where are the people in Japan? They just had a major earth quake there.

[spark]

I've seen a few differing numbers, but so far at least it looks like there weren't many casualties.

[astyn-dbs]

There's going to be a lot of deaths I think. I know most buildings there are built to withstand strong shaking, but the story I read said they were evacuating buildings and people are really scared. Plus the tsunamis won't help. Damn, the world just can't catch a break at the moment .

[draggar]

Major is an understatement - 8.9 is worse.

CNN has videos of tsunamis hitting Japan. It looks like Hell on Earth.

[Shpepper]

Even more now. All the way up Washington coast. So for nothing there but wind, but we came home from the coast for the night as a precaution. Will go back in the morning after the danger has passed.

[Misty]

Northeastern Japan was hit the hardest, but the rest of the country felt it too. I live in central Japan and I felt the aftershocks this afternoon. My apartment shook for a full minute; we sometimes get mini-earthquakes here, so I wasn't to scared, but the length of the shaking was a bit unnerving.

I then went to work as usual, and came home about an hour ago. It wasn't until then, when I turned on my computer and saw the story on Yahoo!, that I realized how serious the situation was.

I am now watching TV and every channel is talking about the earthquake. I've seen footage of homes and offices shaking violently, the tsunami washing away everything in its path, fires, neighborhoods that have been completely trashed, thousands of stranded commuters, etc. Looking at all this footage, it's amazing that only 40 people died (although that number will probably increase). Still, thousands of lives have been affected, and it will no doubt follow them around for months or even years.

I've been expecting a call from my mom and sure enough, she just called. After I reassured her that I was physically/mentally intact, I came back to finish this post.

Now, if I may wax philosophical for a moment...

An event like this really makes you appreciate what you have; for a brief time, all of your problems seem petty and insignificant. I feel for all of the poor souls who have been affected by the quake, but at the same time I'm glad it's not me. Had I been living in the town I am now in 1995 (when the Kobe earthquake hit), my story might have been much different; the fact that my life was unaffected by the biggest natural disaster to ever hit Japan was just the luck of the draw. I was very lucky and I'm thankful for it.

Life is fragile. It can be turned upside-down in the blink of an eye. While I think it's laughably unrealistic to cherish every moment or live life to the fullest, I do believe that we spend too much time bitching about what's wrong in our lives and not enough time appreciating what's right. If we all did that once in awhile, our lives would be a little better.

[Cookie]

I just saw the news and was coming to start a thread like this if there wasn't already.

Thanks for checking in, Misty! So glad to know you're alright!

Praying for everyone in Japan right now. One of my former piano students lives there with her husband and 2 baby girls. Thankfully, her mom reported they are ok, just without power. This is so beyond scary!

[Cookie]

I'm praying. This is so scary! These earthquakes are one right after another.

[Antisocial_Worker]

There was another quake in China according to Yahoo news...

[Dave1982]

I've merged both threads about the earthquake/tsunami in Japan.

[AtDIelement]

This is scary, I have a friend in Hawaii and she's been posting on facebook how they're in tsunami warnings. I'm glad she's okay. But my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone.

[monolayth]

The boy's maternal grandmother lives in Hawaii. Just talked to her and she is fine. Although she has not made it back to her house a block form the beach. We are more worried about her father. He lives in Japan. Tokorozawa,Saitama is where he lives. He is listed as missing on the people finder.

(and yes I am aware of the irony that I get along better with FI's ex mother in law that his mother)

[Barefootgirl]

We know a lot of Samoan people, there is virtually no news out of Samoa at the moment. It is a very worrying and upsetting time for everyone.

My thoguhts and prayers are with the poor Japanese people right now. The pictures on the news channels are awful.

[surreal20]

My husband called me to wake me up and let me know what happened in Japan.

He said that the few villages and a major city above Tokyo was mainly the epicenter for the quake. And that Tsunamis were doing more damage to the area. And he had to add that Tokyo was on fire. A LOT of damage is there.

Apparently Hawaii and Cali even had a few Tsunamis, but they were very small.

Either way...prayers are needed for all victims with the disaster.