An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan early Friday, triggering tsunamis that sent a wave filled with boats and houses toward land. Are you in an affected area? Send an iReport. Read the full report on how the quake hit Japan and generated a Pacific-wide tsunami.

[12:27 p.m. ET, 2:27 a.m. Tokyo] Two hundred-fifteen Chinese tour groups visiting Japan have been confirmed as safe, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the country's National Tourism Administration. More than 4,500 Chinese tourists were in Japan at the time of the quake and tsunami, the agency reported.

[11:49 a.m. ET, 1:49 a.m. Tokyo] Japan public broadcaster NHK reported the country's Defense Ministry had sent a unit that specializes in dealing with radioactive contamination to a command post near the stricken plant.

[11:48 a.m. ET, 1:48 a.m. Tokyo] The British government will dispatch a team of 59 fire service search and rescue specialists, two rescue dogs and a medical support team to join the international relief effort in Japan.  They will take up to 11 tons of specialist rescue equipment, including heavy lifting and cutting equipment to save the lives of people who are trapped in the debris.

[10:51 a.m. ET, 12:51 a.m. Tokyo] About 50,000 Japan Self-Defense Force personnel were being deployed Saturday in quake and tsunami relief efforts, according to a Kyodo report in The Japan Times. Japan's Defense Ministry said 190 aircraft and 25 ships were involved in the effort, according to the report.

[10:23 a.m. ET, 12:23 a.m. Tokyo] In Shiroishi, a town near the area hardest hit by the quake, two SH-60 helicopters from U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi delivered 1,500 pounds of rice and bread donated by people in Ebina, southeast of Tokyo, the U.S. 7th Fleet, said in a statement Saturday.

[10:03 a.m. ET, 12:03 a.m. Tokyo] Japan's government has ordered the evacuation of residents within 20 kilometers of one nuclear power plant and within 10 kilometers of a second. More than 83,000 people live within 10 kilometers of the two plants, according to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

[9:48 a.m. ET, 11:48 p.m. Tokyo] Tokyo Electric Power Company warned Saturday that many areas could experience blackouts as quake and tsunami damage has forced power plants to shut down and put a strain on electrical supplies, the Japan Times reported. As of noon Saturday Japan time, 5.1 million households were without power, according to the report.

[9:04 a.m. ET, 11:04 p.m. Tokyo] An estimated 6.4-magnitude earthquake has hit near the east coast of Honshu - the latest in a series of aftershocks striking on and around Japan's largest island in the past 24 hours. The aftershock occurred at 10:15 p.m. and just 82 kilometers (about 50 miles) from Fukushima, where officials are assessing a nuclear reactor damaged by Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

[8:49 a.m. ET, 10:49 p.m. Tokyo] The walls of a concrete building surrounding the reactor container at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant collapsed in an explosion, but the reactor and its containment system were not damaged, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.

[8:37 a.m. ET, 10:37 p.m. Tokyo] About 9,500 people are unaccounted for in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture , officials said Saturday, according to Kyodo News Service. The figure is more than half of the population of 17,000 in the town on the Pacific coast, they said.

[8:30 a.m. ET, 10:30 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese authorities are making plans to distribute stable iodine, a treatment to prevent radiation poisoning, to residents near two damaged nuclear plants, the International Atomic Energy Agency says.

[8:03 a.m. ET, 10:03 p.m. Tokyo] An explosion at an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant was not caused by damage to the nuclear reactor but by a pumping system that failed as crews tried to bring the reactor's temperature down, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday.

The next step for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be to flood the reactor containment structure with sea water to bring the reactor's temperature down to safe levels, he said.  The effort is expected to take two days.

Radiation levels have fallen since the explosion and there is no immediate danger, Edano said.

[8:01 a.m. ET, 10:01 p.m. Tokyo] U.S. Marine Corps cargo aircraft and helicopters were being dispatched from bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to mainland Japan to help in quake and tsunami relief efforts, the III Marine Expeditionary Force said in a statement.

[7:54 a.m. ET, 9:54 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the natural disaster that struck his country Friday "unprecedented" and said the quake caused a bigger tsunami than expected. Kan said that "we'd first like to focus on saving lives and secondly the comfort of the evacuees" and "there will be many resources that will be needed for this evacuation process."

[7:24 a.m. ET, 9:24 p.m. Tokyo] Dozens of aftershocks from Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake jolted Japan on Saturday. Four of Saturday's temblors were of magnitude 6.0 or above, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

[7:07 a.m. ET, 9:07 p.m. Tokyo] Fires were burning at more than 200 locations in 12 prefectures after Friday's earthquake and tsunami, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported, citing the nation's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

[6:54 a.m. ET, 8:54 p.m. Tokyo] The explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was not caused by the nuclear reactor but by "water vapor that was part of the cooling process," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday. He said no harmful gases had been emitted by the explosion.

[6:44 a.m. ET, 8:44 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan confirms that the evacuation area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been increased to 20 kilometers. But no one has been harmed by radiation, he says.

[6:23 a.m. ET, 8:23 p.m. Tokyo] No people were visible Saturday in the streets of Minamisoma, Japan, a city whose population on Friday had been 70,000. All that was left of many structures were their foundations. Only concrete and steel buildings appeared to have withstood the wash.

[6:18 a.m. ET, 8:18 p.m. Tokyo] Authorities extended the evacuation area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to 20 kilometers, Kyodo News Agency reported.

[6:11 a.m. ET, 8:11 p.m. Tokyo] The roof of a reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant collapsed following an explosion around 3:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. ET), Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported, citing Tokyo Electric Power Company.

[5:59 a.m. ET, 7:59 p.m. Tokyo] The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist reports.

[5:17 a.m. ET, 7:17 p.m. Tokyo] Friday's earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems at two Japanese nuclear power plants and workers were working Saturday to contain temperatures.

"This is a situation that has the potential for a nuclear catastrophe. It's basically a race against time, because what has happened is that plant operators have not been able to cool down the core of at least two reactors," said Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.

[4:47 a.m. ET, 6:47 p.m. Tokyo] At least seven homes sustained substantial tsunami damage on Hawaii's Big Island, including one that was pulled into a bay. Hotels in Kailua-Kona also reported damage. CNN affiliate KHON has a full report.

[4:22 a.m. ET, 6:22  p.m. Tokyo] The Tokyo Electric Company said four workers were injured in an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. NHK said the injured workers were in the process of cooling a nuclear reactor at the plant by injecting water into its core.

[3:46 a.m. ET, 5:46  p.m. Tokyo] Rescuers plucked dazed survivors from collapsed homes, muddy waters and raging fires Saturday, a day after a powerful earthquake tore through Japan and unleashed waves that swallowed entire towns along the coast.

More than 900 were killed and about 700 others were missing Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. The number is expected to go up as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.

The  8.9-magnitude quake was centered about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Sendai, a farming and fishing region battling to stay ahead following decades of brain drain from its youth moving to  the capital of Tokyo.
[3:08 a.m. ET, 5:08  p.m. Tokyo] An explosion has been reported near a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan's Fukushima prefecture, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the country's nuclear and industrial safety agency.

[2:19 a.m. ET, 4:19  p.m. Tokyo] A small amount of  radioactive Cesium has escaped into the air surrounding a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan's Fukushima prefecture, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Agency said.

The agency said there was a strong possibility that this was caused by the melting of a  fuel rod, adding that plant engineers were continuing to cool the fuel rods by  pumping water around the rods.

[2:17 a.m. ET, 4:17  p.m. Tokyo] Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday that the death toll after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami is more than 900, with about 700 others reported missing.

Earlier Saturday the nation's Kyodo News News Agency, citing police, reported that the death toll was 433, with at least 784 missing.

The official death toll is likely to rise as authorities continue rescue and relief efforts in the worst-hit areas.

[2:00 a.m. ET, 9:00 p.m. Hawaii] Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie signed a "State of Disaster  Proclamation" after the tsunami caused millions of dollars or damages as it swept through the islands. The proclamation will allow Hawaii to get federal funds to help rebuild, the governor said in a statement.

[12:00 a.m. ET, 2:00 p.m. Tokyo] The death toll from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan rose to 433, the nation's Kyodo News reported Saturday. At least 784 are missing, Kyodo said, citing police.

[11:01 p.m. ET, 1:01 p.m. Tokyo] At least 398 people are dead and 805 are missing after the massive earthquake in Japan, the Kyodo News Agency reported Saturday. Earlier, the news agency said the death toll from the massive earthquake would likely surpass 1,000.

[10:01 p.m. ET, 12:01 p.m. Tokyo] As rescue crews continue to account for the damage caused by the country's largest earthquake on record, people in Japan on Saturday are struggling to contact loved ones near the hardest hit areas.

Lucy Craft, a freelance correspondent in Tokyo, has a teenage son at a high school near the epicenter in Sendai, northeast of Tokyo. More than 18 hours after the quake, she hadn't been able to make contact.

"The phone lines are still down... I haven't been able to get in touch with him by cell phone, I haven't been able to contact anybody there. I have his teacher's phone number," Craft said Saturday morning in Tokyo. "It's a very upsetting situation, as you can imagine."

[10:32 p.m. ET, 12:32 p.m. Tokyo] Residents of northern Japan streamed south from their earthquake-stricken hometowns Saturday, crowding stores in search of vital supplies as rescue teams worked north toward the historic quake's epicenter.

Roads and buildings showed cracks as far away as 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Sendai, the closest city to the epicenter. One man told CNN the scene in towns hit by the quake and the resulting tsunami was "unimaginable."

Shoppers were polite but tense as they sought food, water and gasoline from stores where shelves were quickly emptied and pumps soon ran dry.

I didn't know we were this close to the fallout area for a hypothetical Japanese nuclear disaster...

EMERGENCY: JAPANESE AUTHORITIES PREPARING TO DISTRIBUTE IODINE

Reuters has the story up now.

Via: Reuters:

Japanese authorities have told the U.N.’s atomic watchdog they are making preparations to distribute iodine to people living near nuclear power plants affected by Friday’s earthquake, the Vienna-based agency said.

Iodine can be used to help protect against thyroid cancer in the case of radioactive exposure in a nuclear accident.

After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, thousands of cases of thyroid cancer were reported in children and adolescents who were exposed at the time of the accident. More cases are expected.

—

This is verbatim off the Reuters liveblog:

And in confirmation of what was being speculated earlier, Japanese authorities have told the IAEA they are making preparations to distribute iodine to people living near the nuclear power plants. Iodine can be used to help protect the body from radioactive exposure.

—

Quake Moved Japan Coast 8 Feet; Shifted Earth’s Axis

Via: CNN:

The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

“At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass,” said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).

Number one, where is that chart from and is it a reliable source, and number two, what are RADS and what is the difference between being exposed to 3000 of them as opposed to 750?  

For all I know, a microwave may give off 750 RADS.  The chart seems very crude in that it doesn't show a more gradual decrease of these RADS, because obviously there is going to be less radiation in Arizona than California, and less in California than a thousand miles off the coast, but as far as the chart's concerned, we're all gettin' 750 RADS!  The reality is that L.A. would get like 300 RADS or some lessened amount.

The West Coast is over 5,000 miles away from Japan.  I have not heard of anyone even suggesting there were ill-effects on someplace that far from Chernobyl.  And this reactor in Japan hasn't even blown up yet!

Also, let's recall that not even everyone who lived in the DIRECT VICINITY of Chernobyl got cancer.  God DOES have a part to play in all of this, He will protect those He chooses to... If you're going to freak out about getting cancer from Fukushima 5,000 miles away, the next step is freaking out about Nutrasweet, Big Macs, cell phones and Chemtrails.  

I can see why Matthew likes the chart, the RADS stop their march of destruction right at the border of the enchanted land of Texas :wink:  

Another question --

Why is it presumed that the wind will maintain the same speed, and not change direction, over the course of a week, as these RADS make their way to us?

Never mind, because believe it or not, the reactor has not yet melted down...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/on-the-brink-of-a-meltdow_b_834637.html?ir=Green

"The U.S. and Japanese reactors have extra measures of protection that were lacking at Chernobyl, such as a secondary concrete containment structure over the reactor vessel to prevent escape of radioactivity. In 1979, the containment structure at the Three Mile Island reactor did prevent the escape of a catastrophic amount of radioactivity after the core melted. But, people living nearby were exposed to higher levels of radiation from the accident and deliberate venting to stabilize the reactor. Also, within one hour the multi-billion dollar investment in that plant went down the drain."

I believe this is a local problem.  But I'm still getting out of Cali before we get our version of this quake.  They are saying there's a thousand dead yet there are entire towns submerged underwater.  This is pretty much just like one of those 70's disaster movies about the "Big One" which has yet to hit L.A., complete with flooded cities and chasms opening in the Earth and general chaos.

I didn't say you did.  Did you read what I said, I didn't say I was leaving because of RADS.

I'm already in the process of selling my home, as I've said in many other threads.

This fallout is going to circle the globe, wherever the
winds pushes it.