Massive Earthquake Strikes Northeastern Japan

From the NHK World News flash:

The estimated magnitude of the massive earthquake that struck northeastern Japan on Friday has been revised upward to 8.8, generating tsunami that hit wide areas of the Pacific coast.  The quakes reportedly caused many injuries and fires.  The Meteorological Agency says the initial quake struck at 2:46 PM on Friday, off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture.  Major tsunami alerts for waves of up to 10 meters have been issued from Hokkaido in the north to Tokushima in the west.  In Miyagi Prefecture, the quake caused tremors with an intensity of 7 -- the maximum level on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7.  Strong tremors were also felt in many parts of the country, including Tokyo.　　　

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a broad tsunami warning for countries and regions at 07:30 UTC on Friday.  They include Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico and Peru.

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says no abnormal levels of radiation have been reported at four nuclear power plants in the quake-hit Tohoku region.

Here is an NHK feed via Al-Jazeera.

I'm not sure how effective this is but some people on twitter have tweeted about this. It is in Japanese and English.

There is already a wikipedia article with information.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has the following warning up on their site:

Issued at 16:08 JST 11 Mar 2011

******************Headline******************
Major Tsunami and Tsunami have been issued.
  JAPAN SEA COAST OF AOMORI PREF.
  UCHIBO AREA, CHIBA PREF.
  OGASAWARA ISLANDS
  SAGAMI BAY AND MIURA PENINSULA
  SHIZUOKA PREF.
  WAKAYAMA PREF.
  TOKUSHIMA PREF.
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF OITA PREF.
  WESTERN PART OF KAGOSHIMA PREF.
Tsunami attentions are in effect at some of the other coasts now.

*******************Text********************
Tsunami Advisory

  AKITA PREF.
  *YAMAGATA PREF.
  NIIGATA PREF.,EXCEPT SADOGASHIMA ISLAND
  SADOGASHIMA ISLAND
  TOYAMA PREF.
  NOTO AREA, ISHIKAWA PREF.
  HIROSHIMA PREF.
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF YAMAGUCHI PREF.

Changed;
Tsunami Advisory --> Tsunami Warning
Tsunami>
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF OITA PREF.
  WESTERN PART OF KAGOSHIMA PREF.
Evacuate from the seashore immediately to the safe places near the above coasts.

Tsunami Warning --> Tsunami Warning
Major Tsunami>
  JAPAN SEA COAST OF AOMORI PREF.
  UCHIBO AREA, CHIBA PREF.
  OGASAWARA ISLANDS
  SAGAMI BAY AND MIURA PENINSULA
  SHIZUOKA PREF.
  WAKAYAMA PREF.
  TOKUSHIMA PREF.

At the following coasts (* marks) tsunamis are
expected to arrive right away.
  YAMAGATA PREF.

*******Tsunami forecast now in effect********

  IWATE PREF.
  MIYAGI PREF.
  FUKUSHIMA PREF.
  CENTRAL PART OF PACIFIC COAST OF HOKKAIDO
  PACIFIC COAST OF AOMORI PREF.
  IBARAKI PREF.
  KUJUKURI AND SOTOBO AREA, CHIBA PREF.
  IZU ISLANDS
  EASTERN PART OF PACIFIC COAST OF HOKKAIDO
  WESTERN PART OF PACIFIC COAST OF HOKKAIDO
  JAPAN SEA COAST OF AOMORI PREF.
  UCHIBO AREA, CHIBA PREF.
  OGASAWARA ISLANDS
  SAGAMI BAY AND MIURA PENINSULA
  SHIZUOKA PREF.
  WAKAYAMA PREF.
  TOKUSHIMA PREF.

  PACIFIC COAST OF AICHI PREF.
  SOUTHERN PART OF MIE PREF.
  KOCHI PREF.
  MIYAZAKI PREF.
  TANEGASHIMA AND YAKUSHIMA AREA
  AMAMI ISLANDS AND TOKARA ISLANDS
  SOUTHERN PART OF JAPAN SEA COAST OF HOKKAIDO
  MUTSU BAY
  TOKYO BAY
  ISE BAY AND MIKAWA BAY
  SOUTHERN PART OF AWAJI ISLAND
  BUNGO STRAIT COAST OF EHIME PREF.
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF OITA PREF.
  BUNGO STRAIT COAST OF OITA PREF.
  EASTERN PART OF KAGOSHIMA PREF.
  WESTERN PART OF KAGOSHIMA PREF.
  OKINAWA ISLANDS
  DAITOJIMA AREA
  MIYAKOJIMA AND YAEYAMA AREA

  OKHOTSK SEA COAST OF HOKKAIDO
  OSAKA PREF.
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF HYOGO PREF.
  OKAYAMA PREF.
  KAGAWA PREF.
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF EHIME PREF.
  ARIAKE SEA AND YATSUSHIRO SEA
  WESTERN PART OF NAGASAKI PREF.
  AMAKUSA NADA COAST OF KUMAMOTO PREF.
  AKITA PREF.
  YAMAGATA PREF.
  NIIGATA PREF.,EXCEPT SADOGASHIMA ISLAND
  SADOGASHIMA ISLAND
  TOYAMA PREF.
  NOTO AREA, ISHIKAWA PREF.
  HIROSHIMA PREF.
  SETONAIKAI COAST OF YAMAGUCHI PREF.

***********About Tsunami Forecast************

Tsunami height is expected to be 3 meters or more, Keep careful watch on tsunamis.

Tsunami height is expected to be up to 2 meters, Keep watch on tsunamis.

Tsunami height is expected to be about 0.5 meters, Pay attention to tsunamis.