friend of a friend's account of what's going on
"I'm fine, though it seems like we have no natural gas for heating/cooking. We were going to karaoke but decided not to and good thing we stayed home as we would have been at the least stuck in a shelter as the public transportation is suspended. There are still aftershock quakes varying from once to a few times an hour, each up to 7, though most below 5 magnitude.
‎"There's been no damage and I believe no deaths reported in this area, though there has been damage all throughout the Tokyo area, many injured, and 3 deaths. The worst of it hit northeastern mainland and Hokkaidou coasts. Sendai (right across from the epicenter) has been wrecked as far as the wave made it's way in and the things on the news show some crazy damage from the tsunami and the earthquake, and now there's a raging fire and many singular fires at an oil refinery and other factories. There's even damage and fire at a nuclear power plant though there have been no radiation leaks, it has not cooled down after shutdown so a area around it has been evacuated.
"That's about all I've heard and remember: Somehow I'm just fine, though it was interesting feeling a 7 magnitude or so shake. Nothing fell here but stores nearby lost some things from their shelves >.> 7th greatest ever recorded. Also, there have been quakes including a 7.2 two days ago but that was not felt by many nor did it cause any damage. There will likely be a continuation of quakes during the next few days, reportedly. We are taking turns sleeping just in case something happens again so I'm staying up for a while tonite."
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"Gandalf with the Ring is like Batman with a time machine."