Source: Associated Press
A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia shook Washington Tuesday. The White House and Capitol were among the Washington buildings that were evacuated.

This is really unbelievable. Another earthquake has rocked the island of Japan. That country may never be the same again.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 hit eastern Japan on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said no tsunami warning was issued. The epicentre of the earthquake, which shook buildings in Tokyo, was at Chiba prefecture, near the coast east of the capital, the agency added.

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A Japanese student studying in the US was horrified to learn that the tsunami hit her hometown. But thanks to YouTube she discovered that her family had survived.

Hat tip for awesome English skills too!

We all knew it would happen. But I’m surprised it happened this fast. The far left is already blaming the earthquake in Japan on “Climate Change.” They could at least wait until the aftershocks stop before making stuff up.

From Grist:

So far, today’s tsunami has mainly affected Japan — there are reports of up to 300 dead in the coastal city of Sendai — but future tsunamis could strike the U.S. and virtually any other coastal area of the world with equal or greater force, say scientists. In a little-heeded warning issued at a 2009 conference on the subject, experts outlined a range of mechanisms by which climate change could already be causing more earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity.

“When the ice is lost, the earth’s crust bounces back up again and that triggers earthquakes, which trigger submarine landslides, which cause tsunamis,” Bill McGuire, professor at University College London, told Reuters.

Melting ice masses change the pressures on the underlying earth, which can lead to earthquakes and tsunamis, but that’s just the beginning. Rising seas also change the balance of mass across earth’s surface, putting new strain on old earthquake faults, and may have been partly to blame for the devastating 2004 tsunami that struck Southeast Asia, according to experts from the China Meteorological Administration.

Oh geez, here we go again.

An 8.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan has triggered a massive tsunami:

Large areas of Japan’s northern Pacific coast have been swamped by a devastating tsunami, engulfing entire towns following a major 8.9 offshore quake.

The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, warning of a tsunami of up to six metres.

Towns and farms around Sendai city in northern Japan are being engulfed by a tsunami, and a four-metre wave has swamped parts of Kamaishi on the Pacific coast.

Developing…

Tsunami center widens warning to include Hawaii

Quake-triggered floods submerge Miyagi residential areas+

Here’s first hand video from a Japanese citizen:

Via the BBC:

Almost 900 students are buried after an earthquake measuring 7.8 caused a building to collapse in south-western China, state media reports.

President Hu Jintao urged “all-out” efforts to rescue victims of the quake, which hit 92km (57 miles) from Chengdu, Sichuan’s provincial capital.

Premier Wen Jiabao is travelling to the area and troops are being sent to help with disaster relief efforts.

Officials have confirmed 107 deaths in the area but the figure could rise.