March 11, 2011

Japanese Earthquakes

As you probably already know, there was a terrible earthquake in Japan over night our time this morning, and I've been pretty much glued to the news this morning and exchanging e-mails with some of our friends and business associates in Tokyo, so this weeks newsletter is going to be a little short. If you have been following the situation and want to help, please make a donation to the Red Cross. You can follow the situation in real time on the Red Cross's facebook page here. Our thoughts and prayers will be going out to everyone effected by this terrible disaster. Some folks are saying this may be the worst earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and they are going to need all the help they can get.

In the mean time, take a look at this short video of the skyscrapers in Tokyo swaying (as they are designed to) during the earthquake. Kudo's to Japanese engineering, is it any wonder that commercial space in Toyko is so expensive to build!?



Even the giant 60 foot Gundam in Tokyo didn't make it:


UPDATE: Live feed from NHK World News.

UPDATE 2: The situation at the Fukushima Nuclear plant seems to be deteriorating. This is really bad.



UPDATE 3: We've been glued to NHK World news live feed all weekend. It's hard to really comment on this. The level of damage and devestation is just staggering. Some of those areas hit hardest by the Tsunami look like an atomic bomb went off. Total devestation. I can't begin to comprehend how many people in Japan have probably lost their lives, and how many survivors have lost everything. Our hearts go out to everyone in Japan who is suffering through this terrible catastrophe.

UPDATE 4: This is a thing of beauty:


UPDATE 5: Staggering before and after photographs. More here.