9.0 Quake Rocks Japan

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The largest earthquake in modern Japanese history struck the island nation yesterday, sending a 23-foot tsunami racing across the Pacific where every coastal nation in the western hemisphere was put on high alert.

The 8.9 temblor swayed buildings in Tokyo for up to 30 minutes after the initial quake subsided. At least 300 people are dead with very early reports just beginning to come in from the quake-ravaged region. Japanese officials dispatched helicopters to measure the damage near the epicenter which was about 230 miles northeast of Tokyo, Japan’s largest city.

Near the city of Sendai, office buildings were ablaze and ships ran aground. Several of Japan’s nuclear plants had difficulty cooling after being shut down, prompting a nuclear emergency declaration.

Japan is prone to big quakes but nothing like this one has been felt since the great Tokyo quake in 1923. The main quake which struck at 2:46 p.m. local time on Friday was preceded by a 7.3 quake the day before and followed by very strong after shocks.

In the first nine hours alone over 65 after shocks measuring higher than 5.0 on the richter scale could be easily felt all over Japan. 12 of them registered from 6.0-7.1, rattling already fragile nerves and causing more damage to buildings.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake was triggered along a very big fault, likely 200-300 miles long. Only a very large fault can produce a quake of that magnitude. While the location of the epicenter deep under the ocean produces a tsunami wave that travels away from the quake zone and threatens anything in its path, the buildings and people on land are at less risk because they aren’t directly over the epicenter.

Live CNN coverage of the tsunami that struck the coast of Japan just minutes after the big quake.

Several days following the quake and tsunami, the earthquake was upgraded to a 9.0 due to the widespread destruction and propagation of a powerful tsunami that swamped the northeast Japanese coastline.

Article cover photo courtesy of AP Photo/NHK TV