I’mbreaking my usual topics for this website, since it is somewhat related.
This morning, there was a major 8.9 earthquake in Japan. It was off the coast near Sendai. I’ve not heard a count for casualties, but last I saw, Sendai was flooded. According to current news sources, 2,000 near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been evacuated, as well.
There are about 50 countries that were put under tsunami watches/warnings.
Of course, I was interested that I saw Falcom’s ‘Is everyone okay?!!!’ post before I saw the news post come up on Twitter. Icarus (of the JDK Band) was going on about it, first as well.
The… communal nature of Twitter showed itself so well, last night, as people started retweeting messages back and forth. I saw some RT’s of stations telling people to keep lines clear and stay to twitter. I even saw the mobile emergency message board go into action- which is something that we should possibly setup in the US. If I’m correct from what I read, you send a message to a system number for your cell phone provider, and they log it onto a message board. Loved ones can then enter in your phone number and see your message to check if you’re alright. Amazing way to keep the lines clear for emergency services.
A number of gaming companies in Japan were quickly tweeting that they were safe, and they were being retweeted for English fans by Ishaara from Silicon Era.
Last night showed something else to me that Falcom was quickly retweeting any messages from people, and calling out for people’s safety for a good portion of the evening. They were communicating along with the rest of the people I could see on Twitter. I don’t know about the other companies, but that made me smile, at least.
The current twitter hashtag is #prayforjapan. It fits along with the last tweet sent by Falcom last night:
Thank you for your worries. Except for cracks in the building, Falcom’s saff is completely safe. We have heartfelt prayers for everyone’s safety. (emp. mine.)
Hang in there, Japan. Everyone’s praying for you, or sending you thoughts of wellbeing. Especially for the northern areas of Sendai. As of this writing, Hawaii is starting to see the first signs of the Tsunami. If you are there, please move to higher ground and stay safe.