In Japan itself a death toll of 40 has been discussed, but images of piled up cars, burning buildings, farmland and whole towns being hit by a wave meters high, suggests that this is only the most preliminary of estimates. A state of emergency has been declared and a warning issued after failures reported at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Earthquake and tsunami strike Japan and Pacific region
In Japan itself a death toll of 40 has been discussed, but images of piled up cars, burning buildings, farmland and whole towns being hit by a wave meters high, suggests that this is only the most preliminary of estimates. A state of emergency has been declared and a warning issued after failures reported at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Areas That Could See Tsunami Map Of California Photos
While massive 23-foot waves swept over Japan soon after the quake, it took several hours for waves to hit Pacific islands. Waves have also begun crashing in Washington state.
California is expected to experience higher waves within the hour. The images below, from NOAA show which areas are currently at risk for seeing tsunami waves, as well as the energy dispersal from the quake itself.
West coast areas currently under a tsunami warning or advisory, including California, from NOAA:
A visualization of the earthquake's energy dispersal, from NOAA:
A map detailing the potential amplitude of the energy generated by the quake, from NOAA:
A map detailing the travel times of waves caused by the tsunami:
Tsunami Time Travel
Fox News, MSNBC, NBC News, Hawaii News Cover Japan Earthquake, Hawaii Tsunami News
Fox News, MSNBC, NBC News and other networks attempt to explain the Hawaii news and latest information from Japan, after the earthquake. The Japanese earthquake had a of magnitude 8.9, the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s. Geologist Harley Benz told Fox News it was the fifth largest earthquake in the last 100 years.
As if the disaster in Japan weren’t bad enough, a tsunami created by the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history have resulted in Tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific but news for Hawaii is very serious.
Hawaii residents have been told to evacuate up to a half-mile inland, according to CNN. The Big Island of Hawaii has many celebs who live there or own second homes, including: Oprah, Kelsey Grammer and Roseanne Barr.
Tsunami warnings are out for South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.
American Idol' Leads FOX
FOX won the night with an average of 16.3 viewers and a 9.5 rating/16 share in households. CBS followed with 12.9 million viewers (8.0/13). In third place was ABC (4.8 million, 2.9/5), followed by NBC (2.4 million, 1.7/3) and CW (1.2 million, 0.8/1).
n the 18-49 demographic FOX had an 5.0 rating, followed by CBS with 3.1, ABC with 1.6, NBC with 1.1, and CW with 0.4.
Thursday hour by hour: 8 p.m.
FOX: "American Idol" (21 million viewers, 12.5/20)
CBS: "The Big Bang Theory" (12.1 million, 7.4/12) / "Rules of Engagement" (9.4 million, 5.7/9)
ABC: "Wipeout" rerun (5.5 million, 3.0/5)
NBC: "Community" rerun (2.7 million, (1.8/3) / "Perfect Couples" rerun (1.9 million, 1.4/2)
The CW: "The Vampire Diaries" rerun (1.2 million, 0.9/1)
18-49 leader: "American Idol" (6.2)
9 p.m.
CBS: "CSI" (13.5 million, 8.4/12)
FOX: "Bones" (11 million, 6.6/11)
ABC: "Wipeout" rerun (5.4 million, 3.1/5)
NBC: "The Office" rerun (2.9 million, 2.0/3) / "Parks and Recreation" rerun (2.4 million, 1.7/3)
The CW: "Nikita" rerun (1.1 million, 0.7/1)
18-49 leader: "Bones" (3.4)
10 p.m.
CBS: "The Mentalist" (14.3 million, 9.0/16)
ABC: "Grey's Anatomy" rerun (3.3 million, 2.4/2)
NBC: "30 Rock" rerun (2.3 million, 1.6/3) / "Outsourced" rerun (2.1 million, 1.5/3)
18-49 leader: "The Mentalist" (3.0)
U.S., Canada threatened by Tsunami
The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center early Friday issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas along the United States and Canadian west coasts. The tsunami warning includes coastal areas of California and Oregon from Point Conception to the Oregon-Washington border. It also includes coastal areas of Alaska from Amchitka Pass to Attu.
Tsunami warnings were issued Friday for at least 20 countries and numerous Pacific islands, including Japan, coastal Russia and the Marcus Islands, the Northern Marianas, Wake Island, Taiwan and Guam.
Authorities in the U.S. territory of Guam said a tsunami could hit the island as early as 7:09 p.m. (4:09 a.m. ET). Sirens sounded in Hawaii around 10 p.m. Thursday (3 a.m. ET), warning residents they could expect tsunami waves five hours later.
People along coastal areas are urged to evacuate, emergency officials warned.
The tsunami could cause damage "along coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii," warned the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a bulletin issued at 9:31 p.m. Thursday local Hawaiian time. "Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property.
Waves are expected to hit Hawaii around 3 a.m. Friday local time.
List of countries threatened by tsunami.
Tsunamis are a series of long ocean waves that can last five to 15 minutes and cause extensive flooding in coastal areas. A succession of waves can hit often the highest not being the first, said CNN International meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.
A tsunami is sweeping across the Pacific Ocean after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Honshu Island, Japan. Japan's NHK showed footage of cars, boats and buildings some of them ablaze -- being swept inland in Miyagi Prefecture.
The temblor is the largest earthquake since the 9.0 earthquake struck the Banda Aceh area of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, causing a massive tsunami that killed tens of thousands in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean.
Tsunami waves can travel at speeds of 800 kilometers (497 miles) per hour. The earthquake, initially reported as a 7.8 earthquake, was upgraded to an 8.8 quake. The epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from the capital, Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said, and 24 kilometers deep a relatively shallow depth.
When you jump a magnitude from 7 to 8, it's not 10 times stronger, it's a 1000 times stronger," said Cabrera. "With an 8.8 earthquake that shallow, that close to shore, there will be more than one tsunami.
Earthquake magnitudes:
The quake struck about 2:40 p.m. local time Friday in Tokyo, interrupting a sunny spring afternoon.
You could tell this was different, instantly ... you literally couldn't stand on your feet the ground was shaking so hard," said Matt Alt, who lives on the west side of Tokyo. "We have earthquakes from time to time, but we never feel anything like the literal magnitude of this quake.
Fires were reported around Tokyo, and a large fire at a Chiba Prefecture oil refinery northeast of Tokyo sent billowing black smoke into the sky, NHK reported.
Indian Ocean tsunami killed about 250,000 people in 14 countries. That tsunami, which washed away entire communities, caused nearly $10 billion in damage and more casualties than any other tsunami in history, according to the United Nations.