A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.
Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture (state) closest to the quake's epicenter. Another 110 were confirmed killed, with 350 people missing. Police also said 544 people were injured.
The magnitude-8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (seven-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.
Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter.
These and other reports are coming in detailing the recent disaster in Japan.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and survivors. Just a few minutes ago, our parent church (Tengen) sent us a message saying that church headquarters will be conducting prayer services for three days from today and encourage all churches, mission stations and members to conduct similar prayer services at their respective locales. So I would like to call upon all our members and friends to conduct special prayers services at your respective homes or join us here by attending the special prayer services held after the morning (6:15am) and evening (5:30pm) services at Pearl Church for the next three days starting from tomorrow morning.
And please do join us in prayer for our monthly service Sunday at 10am.
Rev. Owen Nakao