An ash cloud erupted some 15,000 feet into the air from Alaska’s Cleveland Volcano, according to satellite images and the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

The last significant eruption of Cleveland occurred in February 2001 and resulted in three ash plumes that reached up to 39,000 feet above sea level and “a rubbly lava flow and hot avalanche that reached the sea.”

Cleveland, located in the Aleutian Islands about 45 miles west of the community of Nikolski, has been upgraded and downgraded several times over the last few months, flaring up in July and erupting in the form of a growing lava dome in August. Following several weeks of activity, the volcano was downgraded before being upgraded again to an alert level of “watch” and an aviation hazard color-code of “orange” in early September. Two months later, the alert level was again lowered after the volcano seemed to quiet down.

This latest activity comes six days after the most recent update on the AVO website. The AVO said that satellite imagery from about 5 a.m. Thursday confirmed the presence of a detached ash cloud, about 50 miles away from the volcano and moving southeast.

Aviators in the area are encouraged to exercise caution, but the AVO said that the eruption may be an isolated event.

“Satellite data indicate that this is a single explosion event,” the AVO said, “however, more sudden explosions producing ash could occur with plumes exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level. Such explosions and their associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours.”

Cleveland volcano lacks any real-time monitoring equipment.

Strong earthquake strikes off Japan’s Izu islands but no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning issued

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

A strong earthquake has jolted eastern and north-eastern Japan, but there are no immediate reports of injuries or damages. No tsunami warning has been issued.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake measured 4 in central Tokyo, Fukushima and their surrounding areas on the Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Tokyo Electric Power said there were no reports of any abnormalities at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plan following the quake.

Some high-speed train services in northern Japan were suspended but soon resumed operations, Kyodo news reported.

The earthquake, at a depth of nearly 217 miles, was recorded south-southwest of Hachijo-jima off Japan’s south-eastern Izu islands on Sunday at 5.27am GMT, the US Geological Survey reported.

The Hawaii-based US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has not issued a tsunami.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

On 11 March 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl.

The disaster left up to 23,000 dead or missing.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com.

Cracking was found in the stones at the top of the Washington Monument Tuesday evening, the National Park Service reported.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

The crack was located in one of the triangular faces at the top of the monument. It runs at an angle, and measures approximately 4 inches.

The cracking in the Monument was discovered during a secondary inspection, conducted by a helicopter crew on Tuesday. Engineers on Wednesday morning were working to determine the severity of the damage.

“”An outside engineering team will take whatever amount of time they need,” NPS spokesperson Bill Line said, “they are going to do a structural analysis of the crack.”

Although the grounds near the Monument reopened on Tuesday, the interior is closed to visitor until further notice. Authorities put up a fence creating a 150-foot perimeter at the Monument’s base.

The National Park Service also temporarily closed the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and the Old Post Office Tower as a precaution following Tuesday’s earthquake. The Lincoln and Jefferson memorials reopened at about 7:20 p.m. The Old Post Office Tower opened at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The NPS on Tuesday strongly rejected a rumor circulating online that the earthquake had caused the Washington Monument to lean.

“Absolutely incorrect,” U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said of media reports. “It stands tall and proud.”

The NPS said said a preliminary inspection of the Washington Monument had found it to be structurally sound.

The monuments and memorials on the National Mall were evacuated following the earthquake before 2 p.m. Tuesday. No injuries to any visitors were reported.

MINERAL, Va. (AP) — The most powerful earthquake to strike the East Coast in 67 years shook buildings and rattled nerves from South Carolina to Maine on Tuesday. Frightened office workers spilled into the streets in New York, and parts of the White House, Capitol and Pentagon were evacuated.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

The National Cathedral said its central tower and three of its four corner spires were damaged, but the White House said advisers had told President Barack Obama there were no reports of major damage to the nation’s infrastructure, including airports and nuclear facilities.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake registered magnitude 5.8 and was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va.
Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, in the same county as the epicenter, were automatically taken off line by safety systems, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The earthquake came less than three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and in both Washington and New York it immediately triggered fears of something more sinister than a natural disaster.
At the Pentagon, a low rumbling built until the building itself was shaking, and people ran into the corridors of the complex. The shaking continued there, to shouts of “Evacuate! Evacuate!”
The Park Service closed all monuments and memorials on the National Mall, and ceiling tiles fell at Reagan National Airport outside Washington. All flights there were put on hold.
In lower Manhattan, the 26-story federal courthouse, blocks from ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks, began swaying, and hundreds of people streamed out of the building.
The New York police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, was in a meeting with top deputies planning security for the upcoming anniversary when the shaking started. Workers in the Empire State Building spilled into the streets, some having descended dozens of flights of stairs.

“I thought we’d been hit by an airplane,” said one worker, Marty Wiesner.
Another, Adrian Ollivierre, an accountant, was in his office on the 60th floor when the quake struck: “I thought I was having maybe a heart attack, and I saw everybody running. I think what it is, is the paranoia that happens from 9/11, and that’s why I’m still out here — because, I’m sorry, I’m not playing with my life.”
New York District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance was starting a news conference about the dismissal of the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, when the shaking began. Reporters and aides began rushing out the door until it became clear it was subsiding.
On Wall Street, the floor of the New York Stock Exchange did not shake, officials said, but the Dow Jones industrial average sank 60 points soon after the quake struck. The Dow began rising again a half-hour later and finished the day up 322 points.
In Washington, the National Cathedral said cracks had appeared in the flying buttresses around the apse at one end. “Everyone here is safe,” the cathedral said on its official Twitter feed. “Please pray for the Cathedral as there has been some damage.”
Shaking was felt as far south as Charleston, S.C., and as far north as Maine. It was also felt on Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, where Obama is taking summer vacation and was starting a round of golf when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT.
Obama led a conference call Tuesday afternoon on the earthquake with top administration officials, including his homeland security secretary, national security adviser and administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Around Mineral, Va., a small town close to the epicenter, people milled around in their lawns, on sidewalks and parking lots, still rattled and leery of re-entering buildings. There was least one aftershock.
All over town, masonry was crumpled, and there were stores with shelved contents strewn on the floor. Several display windows at businesses in the tiny heart of downtown were broken and lay in jagged shards.
Carmen Bonano, who has a 1-year-old granddaughter, sat on the porch of her family’s white-frame house, its twin brick chimneys destroyed. Her voice still quavered with fear.
“The fridge came down off the wall and things started falling. I just pushed the refrigerator out of the way, grabbed the baby and ran,” she said.
By the standards of the West Coast, where earthquakes are much more common, the Virginia quake was mild. Since 1900, there have been 40 quakes of magnitude 5.8 or greater in California alone. There have been 43 of magnitude 6 of greater.

Quakes in the East tend to be felt across a much broader area.
“The waves are able to reverberate and travel pretty happily out for miles,” said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough.
More than 12 million people live close enough to the quake’s epicenter to have felt shaking, according to the Geological Survey. The agency said put the quake in its yellow alert category, meaning there was potential for local damage but relatively little economic damage.
The USGS said the quake was 3.7 miles beneath the surface, but scientists said they may never be able to map the exact fault. Aftershocks may help to outline it, said Rowena Lohman, a seismologist at Cornell University. There were at least two aftershocks, magnitudes 2.2 and 2.8.
The last quake of equal power to strike the East Coast was in New York in 1944. The largest East Coast quake on record was a 7.3 that hit South Carolina in 1886. In 1897, a magnitude-5.9 quake was recorded at Giles County, Va., the largest on record in that state.
A 5.8-magnitude quake releases as much energy as almost eight tons of TNT, about half the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The earthquake that devastated Japan earlier this year released more than 60,000 times more energy than Tuesday’s.
The Virginia quake came a day after an earthquake in Colorado toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.
On the East Coast, Amtrak said its trains along the Northeast Corridor between Baltimore and Washington were operating at reduced speeds and crews were inspecting stations and railroad infrastructure before returning to normal.
In Charleston, W.Va., hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily.
“The whole building shook,” said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. “You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own.”
In Ohio, office buildings swayed in Columbus and Cincinnati, and the press box at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, shook. At least one building near the Statehouse was evacuated in downtown Columbus.
In downtown Baltimore, the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.
John Gurlach, air traffic controller at the Morgantown Municipal Airport in West Virginia, was in a 40-foot-tall tower when the earth trembled.
“There were two of us looking at each other saying, ‘What’s that?’” he said, even as a commuter plane was landing. “It was noticeably shaking. It felt like a B-52 unloading.”
Immediately, the phone rang from the nearest airport in Clarksburg, and a computer began spitting out green strips of paper — alerts from other airports in New York and Washington issuing ground stops “due to earthquake.”
The earthquake caused a stir online, where people posted to Facebook and Twitter within seconds and described what they had felt. The keywords in posts, or hashtags, included “DCquake,” ”VAquake” and “Columbusquake,” an indication of how broadly the quake was experienced.
“People pouring out of buildings and onto the sidewalks and Into Farragut Park in downtown DC,” Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist, posted on Twitter.
Quake photos and videos also made the rounds. A handful were authentic. Many more were not — they were favorite earthquake scenes from Hollywood blockbusters or footage of people shaking their glasses and plates at an Olive Garden.
___
The following Associated Press writers contributed to this report: Larry Neumeister, Tom Hays and Eric Carvin in New York; Lolita C. Baldor and Seth Borenstein in Washington; Alicia Chang in Los Angeles; Ray Henry in Atlanta; Tom Withers in Cleveland; JoAnne Viviano in Columbus, Ohio; and Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.

A pair of earthquakes struck within 90 minutes of each near Christchurch, New Zealand, on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, reviving vivid memories of a deadly quake that killed more than 150 people in February.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

“It was quite an exciting ride,” Christchurch Police Acting Inspector Murray Hurst told CNN after the first quake, adding that there was some damage caused by the quake and a few injuries that were not life-threatening.
Police evacuated sections of the city’s central business district after reports of a possible gas leak, police said. Several bridges in the city was closed as a precaution.
The first quake — a magnitude 5.2 — was centered 9 kilometers (5 miles) east-southeast of Christchurch at a depth of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles), according to USGS.
The second quake — a more powerful 6.0 — hit about 13 kilometers (8 miles) north-northeast of the city at a depth of 9 kilometers (5.6 miles).
The quakes came nearly four months after a 6.3-magnitude temblor struck the same area, killing more than 180 people.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has hit the town of Lorca in southern Spain, leaving a seven people dead in cluding a child and several medieval buildings collapsed.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

The clock tower in Lorca has collapsed and several of the older buildings in the town centre have also crumbled.

The earthquake was felt across the Murcia region, including Cartagena, Aguilas, Murcia, Mazarrón, Albacete and Almería. Tremors were felt as far away as Madrid.
Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has deployed emergency military units to the scene, the Spanish EFE news agency reported.
Eyewitnesses that the tower of the church of Santiago was split in half.
“Unfortunately, we can confirm … deaths due to cave-ins and falling debris,” the mayor of Lorca, Francisco Jodar, told radio station Ser. “We’re trying to find out if there are people inside the collapsed houses.”
The quake was registered at 6:47 pm (1647 GMT), following a smaller 4.4-magnitude quake at 5:05 pm (1505 GMT).
Spanish television showed rescue workers rushing through debris-littered streets. Thousands of residents of Lorca are in the streets, not knowing what to do.
The hospital, Rafael Méndez, has been evacuated because of the risk of landslides, raising fears over how the injured will be treated.
Lorca has apopulation of around 91,000 people. Many British expatriates have homes in the Murcia region, which is close to the Costa Blanca.
Lorca dates back to the Bronze Age and probably gained its name from the Romans. The old part of the town is made up of a network of narrow alleyways.
Authorities have warned that the Virgen de las Huertas convent tower could also fall. There are also reports that historical heritage sites as the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Huerta and several local temples have been damaged.
Spain is at moderate risk of earthquakes. On average every 200 years an earthquake of over six on the Richter scale occur. In 2007 an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck the region in Cabo Sao Vicente on Portugal’s southern coast, with no reports of damage or casualties.
The biggest earthquake to hit Europe in recent years occurred in April 2009 when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit L’Aquila in cnetral Italy killing over 300 people.
One in five residents of Rome did not go into work and many children were kept off school today following the 1915 prediction of Raffaele Bendani, a seismologist, that “the big one” would strike Rome on May 11, 2011.

MEXICO CITY – A magnitude-6.5 earthquake shook a wide area of southern and central Mexico on Thursday, sending people fleeing into the streets, but there were no initial reports of damage.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

The epicenter was located near the town of Las Choapas, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City, where it swayed buildings for several seconds. In the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, people ran from their homes and school children assembled on playgrounds.
But Gov. Javier Duarte de Ochoa there was no damage near the epicenter nor in major cities in the oil-producing state.
“Veracruz is completely quiet without problems,” he told state television. “It was felt all over the state, but nothing major happened. It was only a scare.”
The also was temblor was felt strongly in the state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, where there also were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The U.S. Geological survey said the quake hit a depth of 104 miles (167 kilometers).

TOKYO – Japan was rattled by a strong aftershock and tsunami warning Thursday night nearly a month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami flattened the northeastern coast.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

“The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.”
— Isaiah 24:20

The Japan meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for a wave of up to 6 feet (two meters). The warning was issued for a coastal area already torn apart by last month’s tsunami, which is believed to have killed some 25,000 people and has sparked an ongoing crisis at a nuclear power plant.
Officials say Thursday’s aftershock was a 7.4-magnitude and hit 25 miles (40 kilometers) under the water and off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. The quake that preceded last month’s tsunami was a 9.0-magnitude.
Buildings as far away as Tokyo shook for about a minute.
In Ichinoseki, inland from Japan’s eastern coast, buildings shook violently, knocking items from shelves and toppling furniture, but there was no heavy damage to the buildings themselves. Immediately after the quake, all power was cut. The city went dark, but cars drove around normally and people assembled in the streets despite the late hour.
U.S. Geological Survey gave the preliminary magnitude as 7.4 and it struck off the eastern coast 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Sendai and 90 miles (140 kilometers) from Fukushima. It was about 215 miles (345 kilometers) from Tokyo.
The depth was 25 miles (40 kilometers). Shallower quakes tend to be more destructive.
Hundreds of aftershocks have shaken the northeast region devastated by the March 11 earthquake, but few have been stronger than 7.0.
A Pacific Tsunami Warning Center evaluation of the quake said an oceanwide tsunami was not expected.

MINAMISANRIKU, Miyagi Prefecture—When a giant tsunami of more than 10 meters high crashed into the shores of this quiet fishing village Friday, hundreds, if not thousands, of its residents were swept away.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

Famines and Troubles

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines•Strongs 3042: limos, lee-mos´; probably from 3007 (through the idea of destitution); a scarcity of food:—dearth, famine, hunger. and troubles•Strongs 5016: tarache, tar-akh-ay´; feminine from 5015; disturbance, i.e. (of water) roiling, or (of a mob) sedition:—trouble(-ing). these are the beginnings of sorrows•Strongs 5604: odin, o-deen´; akin to 3601; a pang or throe, especially of childbirth:—pain, sorrow, travail.
•Strongs 3601: odune, od-oo´-nay; from 1416; grief (as dejecting):—sorrow..”
—Mark 13:8

With hardly a building now standing in the town’s lower basin, Minamisanriku is the focal point of the devastation on Japan’s northeastern coast. Nearly half of its 17,000 residents are missing. Those who aren’t among the 1,000 people already identified as dead are holed up in cold and chaotic evacuation centers.

Concrete foundations are proof that homes once stood in Minamisanriku. The large office buildings that remain standing are hollowed out, except for the piles of debris washed into shattered windows and doorways.

Local residents walk through the rubble, wide-eyed. Sifting through two-story high mounds of metal siding, logs and snapped power lines, they scrutinize their post-apocalyptic landscape for sign of hope.

“They’re probably gone,” 65-year-old Yumiko Yamauchi said of her two older sisters. Her back is slightly hunched, her legs wobbly legs. She uses a golf club with a sawed-off head as an improvised cane.

Together with her son and her two grandchildren, Ms. Yamauchi has already gone to all six of the town’s major evacuation centers in search of her sisters. Her last hope, she says, is to comb the area near where she thinks the house once stood. She sighed. “There is nothing left,” she said. “There is no way they could have survived.”

She said she hasn’t cried. There is a Japanese phrase shoganai, “it can’t be helped.”

“It seems strange to say shoganai with something like this, but that’s just the way I feel. Shoganai,” said Ms. Yamauchi, climbing the steep stairs back up to her house on the mountain, each step supported by her golf-club cane.

On this day in Minamisanriku, where salmon- and seaweed-farming are the staple industries, there were no happy endings.

While 32-year-old Mika Endo was reunited with her mother yesterday, she has also learned that her husband’s parents are probably both dead. Clutching her two-year-old son, Soma, fidgety in the cold, she looks with her mother for family photos in the mud and wreckage of the home where she grew up.

Ms. Endo and her husband identified her father-in-law in one of Minamisanriku’s makeshift morgues. “An acquaintance of mine saw my mother-in-law get washed away,” Ms. Endo recounted. She said the body has yet to be found.

Tomoko Haga, another resident of the area, spent three nights stranded with her elderly in-laws on the second floor of her home in a neighboring town. Exhausted, the 56-year-old Ms. Haga made her way through the debris on her way to the evacuation center to look for her 89-year-old mother and 52-year-old brother.

Her in-laws refused to flee as tsunami warnings sounded, she said. She says the family fled upstairs to avoid the rushing waters. As they waited, stranded, Ms. Haga said she would hear the helicopters of Japan’s Self Defense Forces. She says she waved frantically but they didn’t come.

Eventually, thanks to a neighbor who pleaded with them to find Ms. Haga’s family, the helicopters arrived. Ms. Haga’s parents-in-law were too weak to leave on their own and were airlifted out. Ms. Haga says her blood pressure plunged from the stress of the ordeal, and she went unconscious.

A day later, wearing five sweaters, she is walking amid Minamisanrika’s rubble, looking for her mother and brother, who live a few hundred meters from the water. “I am very, very worried,” she said.

On higher land, the town has turned the Bayside Super Arena, a 900-seat sports and entertainment facility opened in 1998, into the main evacuation center and morgue. The arena’s dim corridors overflow; 800 people shelter here.

In one corner of the lobby area, 200 mostly elderly people wait in line to see a doctor for prescription medicine. The line started gathering hours before the announced medicine-distribution time. One woman collapsed and needed to be wheeled to the infirmary, located in a weightlifting room where exercise machines have been pushed aside to let patients rest on mats.

For the first time since the earthquake struck, the town got phone service and laid out eight phones. Each person was allowed a single one-minute call.

In the entrance way, officials had a list of 60 deceased. All but three had been identified by the police, using their wallets or other forms of ID. One unidentified body, the list said, was a woman between 40 years old and 60 years old. She was found on the west side of a local retirement home in an apron, carrying a mobile phone with a Snoopy strap.

A couple in their 50s pored over the list. The man looked down the names and then said flatly, “there it is.” He walked over to a young male staff member and said: “We found a name on the list.”

The young man appeared confused. “You found what?” he asked.

The man leaned into his wife, and said: “I found a name of the death list.” He was whisked away to a back room.

Japan’s earthquake moved the Earth’s axis when the 8.9-magnitude quake struck on Friday. The quake caused devastation that is unimaginable. Now, the coast of Japan has move 8 feet or 2.4 meters and shifted the Earth’s axis.

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

“The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.”
— Isaiah 24:20

Reports are that the axis has shifted almost four inches or ten centimeters. The earthquake has killed hundreds and spawned tsunamis and a whirlpool that sucked in ships and people. Thousands are missing.

According to CNN, “The temblor, which struck Friday afternoon near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan’s east coast.

The Earth’s crust ruptured when the quake hit spliting open about 250 miles long and about 100 miles wide. The movement of the Earth’s axis is a frightening scenario. While Japan recovers, the Earth will never be the same.