8.9 Japanese Quake Spawns Massive Tsunami (video)

Japanese residents watch as waves surge through their neighborhood.

Hawaii is experiencing the first affects of a massive Tsunami, with waves as high as 6 feet as a result of an 8.9 earthquake of the coast of Japan Friday afternoon, local time.

Reports say the worst is yet to come, as residents scramble to get away from coastal areas ahead of what could be a wall of water as high as 30 feet. As many as twenty other Pacific Rim countries, including the west coast of the U.S. could also be affected.

Bloomberg News reports:

Chile, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador put communities and ports on their Pacific coasts on tsunami alerts after Japan was hit by its strongest earthquake in at least a century.

Coastal areas of Easter Island will be evacuated today, Chile’s state television station TVN reported. Colombia’s biggest port, Buenaventura, is on alert after the 8.9-magnitude quake in Japan triggered a warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Luz Amanda Pulido, head of the country’s disaster prevention agency, told radio station RCN. Peru and Ecuador’s Pacific coast are also on alert, authorities in both countries said.

Meanwhile, back in Japan residents are being evacuated from neighborhoods surrounding a nuclear power plant over fears of a coolant failure. Reuters reports:

A cooling system for a nuclear reactor was not working after a powerful earthquake in Japan, prompting the government to declare an emergency situation as a precaution although it said there was no radioactive leakage at present.

Residents that live within a 3 km radius of Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have been told to evacuate, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.

 The following comes via The Guardian:

Related articles

• Japan earthquake the seventh most powerful ever: USGS (telegraph.co.uk)
• CNN: Tsunami warnings issued for Hawaii, U.S.West Coast and 19 other countries after major quake and tsunami off Japan. (economy4abc.blogspot.com)
• The world's strongest earthquakes and tsunamis (boston.com)

Holy Douche Bag! Pat Robertson call Haitian earthquake "a blessing"

You gotta hand it to Pat Robertson, he never misses an opportunity to put an Old Testament spin on disaster. He blamed 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina on the gays and claims to have to power to move hurricanes away from his Hampton Roads, Va. headquarters and send them up the coast to smite the sinners.

Now this nut-job says that the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti this week, which some news services say may leave half the population dead and the rest homeless, is "a blessing in disguise", calling it a chance for the island nation to start over.

Why would God do this to the poorest country in the western hemisphere? Take a look at this 700 Club clip. Notice how the woman sitting with Pat struggles to look like she's taking him seriously, as he talks about Haiti's "pact with the devil" that freed the island nation, founded by former slaves, from French rule. In the 2nd clip from Wednesday night's "Rachel Maddow Show", the Haitian ambassador responds to Pastor Pat-shit with a history lesson.

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• Pat Robertson Blames the Victims in Haiti (delawarewatch.blogspot.com)
• Shep Smith hits Robertson's 'devil' comments: The people of Haiti 'don't need that' at a time like this. (thinkprogress.org)
• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Rush to Help Haiti Earthquake Victims (blippitt.com)
• Pat Robertson blames 'pact to the devil' (cnn.com)
• Pat Robertson: Haiti Earthquake Because Of "Pact At The Devil" (alan.com)
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• Pat Robertson quick to exploit Haitian tragedy, said they had it coming (inquisitr.com)

Earthquake Hits Los Angeles Sunday Night

I was checking my tweets on Twitter, Sunday night, when suddenly there was a change in the conversation as tweeple (Twitter people) began tweeting "did anyone else feel that?" and "was that an earthquake?"

Before CNN or any of the 24/7 news agencies could report the details, the twitterverse confirmed via the U.S. Geological Survey's web site that a 5.0 magnitude quake had struck at 8:39 p.m. PST. The USGA has since updated their data, reporting the quake registered 4.7 on the Richter Scale.

In a related story, tremors were also reported over the weekend along the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountain ranges from Virginia to New England. A 3.0 quake centered in southwestern Roanoke County, Virginia was felt at about 4:20 a.m. EST on Saturday morning, about 20 miles from my home.

There were no reports of damage or injuries resulting from either event. (Click the image to embiggen.)