The largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history hit the island nation’s northeastern coast on Friday, rumbling through cities and small coastal towns and starting a huge tsunami.
Officials report that hundreds are dead and many more missing.
The earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time on Friday afternoon, at a depth of 10 kilometres about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, and was followed by at least 19 powerful aftershocks.
Japan’s meteorological agency said the initial earthquake registered at a magnitude of 8.8, while the U.S. Geological Survey said it measured a magnitude 8.9. That number ranks it fifth among all quakes registered in the past 111 years. 
