Tsunami threat felt worldwide following massive Japan quake

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan caused a 13-foot tsunami that damaged buildings and washed away homes along the northeastern coast, Friday afternoon, ABC News reports. Aftershocks continued to rock the region as images on Japanese television showed cars and boats being swept away by tsunami waters.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for Japan, Russia, Marcus Islands, Northern Marianas, Guam, Wake Islands, Taiwan, Yap, Philippines, Marshall Islands, Belau, Midway Islands, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Johnston Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Howland-Baker, hawaii, Tuvalu, Palmyra Islands, Vanuatu, Tokelau, Jarvis Islands, Wallis-Futuna, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga, Mexico, Kermadec Islands, Fr. Polynesia, New Zealand, Pitcairn, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Antarctica, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.

The quake, the world’s fifth-largest since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, struck at 2.46 p.m. local time, L.A. Times reported. There were reports of injuries in Tokyo as officials tried to assess damage, injuries and deaths from the quake, but there were no immediate details.

Mashable.com reported that the reaction on Twitter, quickly becoming the go-to service in emergencies, was immediate and intense. Less than an hour after the quake, with the country’s phone system knocked out, the number of tweets coming from Tokyo were topping 1,200 per minute, according to Tweet-o-Meter.