June 14th, 2008 Earthquake hits Japan, we’re OKAY

It’s 10am now, Sunday morning, and we’re watching on the news that a major earthquake has hit the Iwate region of Japan (clear on the other side of the country from us). We didn’t feel a thing and are perfectly fine. More later as I learn about it…

Update: 10:48am
I’ve just found an English news report about the earthquake. Here it is:

Strong earthquake hits Japan
1 hour ago

TOKYO (AFP) — A powerful earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck northern Japan Saturday, the meteorological agency said.

The earthquake hit in Iwate prefecture, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of Tokyo, and rattled buildings in the capital.

Television footage showed buildings also shaking in northern cities of Japan. Bullet trains were automatically shut down as a precaution.

The quake had a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), the agency said.

There was no immediate word on potential damage or casualties, and the agency did not issue a tsunami warning.

A new earthquake warning system kicked in for the quake, with public broadcaster NHK flashing an alert moments before it struck.

Japan endures some 20 percent of the world’s powerful earthquakes. It has built an infrastructure intended to withstand tremors.

So that about tells the story so far. Here is a map of the Iwate area. You can see we are VERY FAR AWAY, so DON’T WORRY!

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