Largest earthquake on record hits Japan

[Daito]

At 1530, 11March2011, Japanese local time, an 8.9 earthquake was recorded off of the east coast of northern Japan in the Sendai area, apporximately 150 kilometers offshore. Secondary affects place earthquake readings on the islands of Japan at 8.4 to 8.6. Aftershocks were reported to be as high as 7.4. Tsunami warnings have been in affect that waves as high as 6meters will inundate the islands.
It is with great regret that there will be repercussions to this event. Many of you are already aware of this, being that you are present at this time in that location, and heartfelt condolences reachout to you who are now probably in distress. It is hoped that you are safe and that your families and friends are also.
Many of us were there when disasters hit us close to home, as in the case of the earthquake and tsunami that devestated much of the Indian Ocean countries such as Indonesia, and Thailand, and when Hurricane Katrina hit the southcoast of the United States. This said, many of us understand and sympathize and are distressed at this. We do feel and share your pain It is hoped that the employees of Square-Enix are safe and that they are able to contact and reach their families, friends, and loved ones at this time.

[noodles355]

There were slight tremors and a little bit of flooding on the coast of hokkaido, but most of the damage was much further south. Up here we're all pretty safe.

[Daito]

Very much relieved that you are okay Noodles^^ That being said, this brings up a distrubing and interesting point: With much of the game about to be updated and much of the servers and data stored in Japan, how much of an impact is all of this going to affect the game?

[noodles355]

I'm not sure. I suspect they will be ok. From what's being shown on japanese TV, the damage is nothing compared to the two recent Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand

[Keyln]

I hope everything's ok. Last I heard, Japan was about ready to sink into the ocean, and that all of the tarutaru and moogles were being used as life preservers.

Most importantly, is the world of Final Fantasy XI all right? D:

[Haldarn]

Safe wishes to all the players in Japan!

[noodles355]

I was in a Dom op party earlier when it happened. We disbanded when they happened as myself and about half the alliance logged off to check the news lol.

[Burmecia]

It's a bit eerie seeing so little online right now. I hope they will be okay. <:(

[Daito]

News of the earthquake in Japan on CNN shows that there is much devestation in the city of Sendai,with massive oil refinery and natural gas installation fires in Chiba and other locations up and down the coast north of Tokyo. The footage of the tsunami moving thru Sendai is pretty bad with the wave pushing semi-trucks and fishing vessals in front of it along with cars and buildings. Sendai airport is shown with water flooding the structure up to the second floor, and the runway completely covered over in water.

[Furisouls]

I'm talking to my friend who lives in Tokyo, she's doing alright as well as her family. She's telling me about the aftershock tremors they keep going though, search and rescue (helicoptors), Army all over.

My prayers go out to everyone there. Hope everyone is safe and with their families/friends.

[MetalKhaos]

Safe wishes to everyone in Japan. =x

[Delsus]

Hope everyone in Japan is ok.

On the topic of ffxi, the servers will be in a completly earthquake-proof room, some server rooms are completly bomb-proof because they are that important to any large company, they need thier servers to survive anything.

[Ilax]

Dang, i Hope everyone in Japan is ok too. =(

[Tsukino_Kaji]

I was going to say, "Dose this mean we get the game to ourselves now," but the servers are located there too. lol

[Hyunkel]

Safe wishes to everyone in Japan. I hope you can get in touch with your families and friends as fast as you can and they all are safe.

[Cream_Soda]

I hope Beni is ok and/or on tour @.@

[PizzaTheHut]

This is terrible. I think some posts make it sound like nothing but the videos and news coming clearly state a lot of damage and they just said it'll hit Hawaii within minutes. Even Vancouver have to retreat to higher grounds.

[Ilax]

=( sad to read that.

[PizzaTheHut]

News is keeping live video of Hawaii shores right now waiting for the waves...that's scary. It won't go in as far but ya...


Tokyo (CNN) -- The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in at least 100 years unleashed walls of water Friday that swept across rice fields, engulfing towns, dragging houses onto highways and tossing cars and boats like toys.

Local media reported at least 50 deaths, with more casualties feared.

And the 8.9-magnitude quake, which struck at 2:46 p.m. local time, prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue a tsunami warning for at least 50 countries and territories.

It also sparked fires in at least 80 locations, Kyodo news reported.

Its epicenter was offshore 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said.

But residents there continued to feel aftershocks hours after the quake. More than 30 aftershocks followed, with the strongest measuring 7.1.

The video of a lot of this is crazy. Their news chopper actually recording the water covering entire farm lands etc.

That other one that looks like a highway with tons of cars and boats been swept under like an overpass

[Ilax]

Man this is horrible =( i need read CNN now.

[Neika]

some of that footage is really scary. My thoughts and prayers are with those in Japan, I hope you and your loved ones are ok.

[Jasmine]

Mere words could never express our gratitude, yet We will try to explain how grateful we are for everything that you have done.
We wish to express our gratitude in place of all Japanese.

I am sorry for troubling you not to be able to speak English.

[Chiibi]

Alot of the damage was north of here so we only felt the minor tremors. ^.^b so yeah im ok... if anyone cares xD

[NrvnqsrKhaos]

I live a bit west of Tokyo, and I felt the shaking. Quite powerful, certainly the most powerful earthquake I've ever felt.

Things are pretty much okay here but that's because it's inland. I saw this afternoon that 4 million people were estimated to be without power; I don't know how accurate that number was, but holy heck.

Best wishes to those on the coast of Japan.

[Bolkin]

My prayers go out to our Japanese brothers and sisters.

[Aquilla]

Best wishes to everyone & prayers for safety.

[Hatibei]

This calamity reminds me of Hurricane katrina in 2005.
at that time,were worried about our friends.
I'm happy playing with this game cuz i don't know feel emotions like this emerge on other games!

[noodles355]

The latest reports from officials estimate that 200-300 people have died from the resulting tsunami on the east coast. None of the horror made it as far north as where I'm based, but that statistic really made me feel sick to my gut, especially as this afternoon after the actual shake there was only report of 1 death.

I remember one player from my dom op alliance earlier today DCd around the time of the earthquakes. It didn't really occur to me at the time but he DCd right when they happened. I think their name was Arishias on Asura. I hope they're ok.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center:

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center:

http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/

Educational video on what to do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzR0Rt3i4kc

[Babygyrl]

this is terrible im watching it on cnn right now. japan is one of us allies we have bases there.. hope our troops are alright and work hard to help the japanse people! my prayers are to them.!

[Hyunkel]

I suggest everyone should send their support for the Japanese people on this thread (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/1488-Japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami), which is situated on the General Discussion (Japanese language).


http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/1488-Japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami

[PandyTwi]

I live a bit west of Tokyo, and I felt the shaking. Quite powerful, certainly the most powerful earthquake I've ever felt.

Things are pretty much okay here but that's because it's inland. I saw this afternoon that 4 million people were estimated to be without power; I don't know how accurate that number was, but holy heck.

Best wishes to those on the coast of Japan.

holy shit Poki you're alive!~, you had us worried when you dc'd and never came back. Bart thinks your rice cooker broke and you went out to go buy another one DURING the earthquake.

[Enmar]

Safe wishes to everyone In japan. =(

[Keyln]

Well, judging from the fact that the forums are still up, and that the game is still running, it hasn't been a complete disaster for SE. But still, I'd like to know how the FFXI team is doing. Are they all right?

[Meyi]

Most importantly, is the world of Final Fantasy XI all right? D:

This shouldn't be the most important. Making sure the survivors are okay and helping everyone we can should be the most important.

I was honestly surprised that the forums came up because I thought they were stored on a server in Japan.

[Alhanelem]

Most of the damage was on the coast because of the Tsunami. Ever since the earlier quakes of the 20th century, buildings in japan are constructed to strict codes to resist earhquakes, because the area around Japan is the most seismically active locations in the world.

In an area with strong building codes, a massive earthquake can cause little damage (though resulting 25 foot tsunamis will do a lot of damage); while in an area where such codes are not in place, a far less powerful earthquake can do more damage.

[Chamaan]

In places that have a lot of earthquakes they design building and skyscrapers so that they sway.

http://www.businessinsider.com/earthquake-proof-buildings-japan-2011-3

We've got buildings that do that here in CA, and all along the Pacific really. Living in the Ring of Fire is serious business.

Have an historical perspective to how common these big quakes are for Japan, Geologically speaking.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/world_deaths.php

[Moink]

Death toll smacked over 1,000 already, Sony factory evacuated, two Toyota facories shut down too... but my Largest concern is the Nuclear Power Plant that was hit by this. I hope all goes well for Japan.

[Kimara]

Been praying about this. The pictures are just devastating. Be safe everyone in Japan ; ;.

[Alhanelem]

A thread was started in the Japense forums by an english user and you may want to share your thoughts there:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/1488-Japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami

[Burmecia]

Oh no. This has just been posted on twitter/POL:

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20537.shtml

Servers will possibly be temporarily shut down for 11 and 14 due to the disaster.

Edit: Reread and they say "if" and "may be," so it seems like an unsure thing still. :(

[Randwolf]

Actually, the morning after the quake, I expected to not find the game up. But, I'm guessing the nuke situation and power generation issues may be the culprit on this one.

[Burmecia]

Yeah it's completely understandable why it's happening. :( I feel terrible for the people of Japan to be going through this right now.

[Starcade]

Oh no. This has just been posted on twitter/POL:

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news20537.shtml

Servers will possibly be temporarily shut down for 11 and 14 due to the disaster.

Edit: Reread and they say "if" and "may be," so it seems like an unsure thing still. :(

The impression I got (posted to POL about 10 PM PST) says that it sounds like the games are going down soon:



"According to our best estimate at this point, we will temporarily have to shut down the servers shortly. We will give you as much advance notice as possible under the rapidly changing circumstances. If the servers are shut down, we will try to provide updates in the Information section of our Official Website"


And from the events in Japan, this might not be a short layoff.

[Alhanelem]

Everyone who has it is being ordered to conserve power. Until power capacity is increased, everyone has to conserve. Obviously things that suck power for recreation are the first to go.

Even if the #1 reactor meltdown is fully contained, the entire plant probably wont be operating for a while, if ever.

[Starcade]

Then why are we still up? This shouldn't even be a discussion at this juncture...

[Moink]

Everyone who has it is being ordered to conserve power. Until power capacity is increased, everyone has to conserve. Obviously things that suck power for recreation are the first to go.

Even if the #1 reactor meltdown is fully contained, the entire plant probably wont be operating for a while, if ever.

Reactor 1 and 3 are in meltdown phases.

The plant will go back into operation once the reactors are cooled enough. Even Chernobyl was operating power for quite sometime before the entire plant was retired in 99

[SheKicksHigh]

Just shutdown 14 to save power nobody cares about that game.

[Alhanelem]

Some people do, but regardless, that will not be enough. I really can't abide the lack of maturity I'm seeing in the face of a major disaster like this.

[Pyrogir]

What I hate is fellow players who have the attitude of, "It didn't happen here, it didn't affect me, so why should I care?". Then they go on to complain that if/when SE turns off the servers, that they should get reimbursed. WTF? Show a little compassion you twats. ESPECIALLY since the person that I've been hearing this from, lives in CA.

[Starcade]

Let's handle all those particulars after they are able to get the game back up.

As for now, they have a force majeure situation, effectively.

And this is the Internet US gamer population. Total compassion, maybe an iota.

My respect for most of them? Less than that.

[Moink]

Well if both reactors do blow their lids, unlikely but plausible, their radioactive clouds produced from both can easily make its way to North America or Europe and Even further if it got to the Gulf Stream

[Starcade]

Just announced: POL going down at 10:00 GMT -- 2:00 PST for power conservation.

This isn't going to be a short outage, I fear.

[Starcade]

1) Outage is at least one week.

2) No POL service billings for the April billing cycle.

(Source: the announcement on the site)

Forums will be up.

[Burmecia]

I live in Oregon, and I am feeling scared about this... Seems like the world is just going to hell lately. :/ I'm deeply sorry for all that are affected by this disaster. I'm the type of person who's sensitive to other's pain, and I deeply regret that I can't do much since I'm having money problems myself... I just always have this feeling like I wish I could do something more to help.

But all I can do is hope things will get better. :/

[Flyinghippress]

This (http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/188918_10150118125354291_506729290_6171697_5887003_n.jpg) is a before and after picture of Minami Sanriku alone (170miles north of Tokyo). I'm surprised they're only going to be gone a week. In fact I bet it will be longer.

[Starcade]

This (http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/188918_10150118125354291_506729290_6171697_5887003_n.jpg) is a before and after picture of Minami Sanriku alone (170miles north of Tokyo). I'm surprised they're only going to be gone a week. In fact I bet it will be longer.

Agreed. At least you do get April free in the exchange.

[Burmecia]

Agreed. At least you do get April free in the exchange.

Yeah... I kind of guessed that this would happen. It's good that SE posted this information up and everything. They even went as far to post a more descriptive reason why:


TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY (TEPCO)’s home page:

A big earthquake occurred in the northern part of Japan at 2:46PM of March 11th 2011. Because TEPCO's facilities have been seriously damaged, power shortage may occur.
TEPCO appreciates customers' cooperation in reducing electricity usage by avoiding using unnecessary lighting and electrical equipment.
We are taking all measures to restore power, however, we expect extremely challenging situation in power supply for a while. We kindly ask our customers to cooperate with us in reducing usage of power.

I'll wait as long as it takes for things to get better for them. I'm completely understanding on the situation at hand.

[deathsong]

This just in on the service and support page. I have just copied and pasted it in here

The services will be temporarily suspended for at least a week starting on Mar. 13, 2011 3:00 (PDT). We will provide an update regarding the reinstatement of the service as additional information becomes available. In connection with the temporary suspension of services, players will not be billed for any PlayOnline service throughout the April billing cycle. Additional information regarding this matter will also be posted as it becomes available.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and thank you for your understanding of this unusual situations.

[Date & Time]
A week starting from Mar. 13, 2011 3:00 (PDT)

[Affected Service]
- FINAL FANTASY XIV
- FINAL FANTASY XI
- PlayOnline

[deathsong]

With that said I think that Playonline is doing the best they can in this situation. I am glad to hear that they are going to waive the fees for all of us next month. Hopefully everything gets under control and better for all our fellow players in Japan. Ya'll are in my prayers :)

[Neika]

I will actually be very surprised if the servers are only down for a week. SE, take as long as you need, we will still be here whenever you are ready and able to bring the servers back up. Also I feel that not billing for the April billing cycle is very generous of you in light of everything that's happened. I would have had no issues paying for the game while the servers are down because of the horrible disasters that have hit Japan this week.

[Nu-Hir]

I'm not trying to be an ass or a big meany or anything, but don't they have servers co-located in L.A. that they could use, rather than shutting down the entire service? I mean, I feel for them over there, a friend at work has family that she hasn't been able to contact in Japan, and that's pretty damn scary. Shut down the servers in Japan, conserve the power there for those who need it, hospitals, emergency crews, whatnot. Run off of co-located servers, so that those of us who weren't affected by the quake (NA, EU, southern Japan, East Asia) can still play the game, providing Squenix with money, that can go towards helping those in need. It's a win/win situation.

[Anapingofness]

Sweet mother of Christ...
I know that we have our differences but still...
With the news of the reactor I sincerely hope nothing worse happens in Japan. I don't think I've ever been so worried about a world event as I have now.

In regards to the servers shutting down- do what you must. I support the decision wholeheartedly and if people give you shit for it then they need to grow up. There are more important things at stake.

I hope everyone at SE is safe. I pray that things turn out for the best for Japan and that people can get back on their feet, locate anyone that is missing, and put this terrible tragedy behind them as soon as possible.

[Dreamers]

Although its not much, since SE has said they are not charging for the April billing cylce, I am sending that money to charity to help with recovery efforts in Japan.

[Djinnn]

My prayers are with everyone touched by this disaster.

[Willowrose]

Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the disaster in Japan. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled to make sure all goes well and will be looking forward to FFXI coming back online soon.

[Norycat]

Although its not much, since SE has said they are not charging for the April billing cylce, I am sending that money to charity to help with recovery efforts in Japan.

I have done the same. Thank you for the idea. ^^

[CrystalWeapon]

Take as long as you need se, I just hope that things start getting better. I'm heartbroken over the situation japan is in right now. You have my full support always have always will. /salute

[Burmecia]

Although its not much, since SE has said they are not charging for the April billing cylce, I am sending that money to charity to help with recovery efforts in Japan.

That's a great idea... You are truly awesome. <3 /cheer

I've been posting up links to donation funds on my facebook. I have a lot of friends and family on there so I hope the word spreads and more people donate.

[Rubeus]

we should really start a new thread of players who are willing to pay their monthly to a direct japanese aid organization. Legally, money donated in the U.S. only has to funnel "whatever money is left over" to the actual donation; the rest can all go towards "cost of maintaining the relief center, salaries of the executives, etc."

I would like SE to give us a Japanese charity that will take USD and Euros. we the players, on the whole, are worried and feel a deep sadness and many of us want to help in more ways than we legitimately can given many of our demographic locations. Even if SE just set up a donation paypal for the Japanese people, or guided us to a Japanese-run organization, I believe many of us would like to use that.

It's the least we can do right now. Best wishes for everyone in Japan, and I sincerely hope a new Chernobyl event is just a paranoid nightmare. We're all worried about you guys!

[Specie]

Why are they making more people suffer why not move the servers or something people need their games to ease the suffering of real life.

[Damane]

Why are they making more people suffer why not move the servers or something people need their games to ease the suffering of real life.

seriously?! What kind of person are you! Priority is now 1. aid and help the people that are actually in need. Thousands of people dont even have a home anymore in Japan.

[Burmecia]

Fail troll is fail. :/

[Pyrogir]

Really? Have a little more compassion. Find a different outlet for your stress. Don't be angry because you limited yourself to one outlet to help yourself relax.

[Neika]

I'm pretty sure moving the servers are the LAST thing on their minds right now. Their families safty and wellbeing is more important than a game. I'm very ok with the servers being down. FFXI and FFXIV are the last things they need to worry about with everything else going on.

[Madscientist]

We have to show understanding for the Japanese people and SE workers, they didnt expected to have an earthquake class 9. Im hoping and praying that all staff members and their families are ok. All should show empaty and respect for those who survived this catastrofe.

[Damane]

Fail troll is fail. :/

even if it was a troll, its pritty low for a human person to troll about something like this.

[Liselle]

even if it was a troll, its pritty low for a human person to troll about something like this.

+1
Some ppl fail at being human, not mentioning funny

[Burmecia]

even if it was a troll, its pritty low for a human person to troll about something like this.

oh don't worry, I agree with you completely... >.<

[Juggernautx]

Why are they making more people suffer why not move the servers or something people need their games to ease the suffering of real life.

Because of this :
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs42/f/2009/080/3/f/Godzilla_1954_by_Tankor89.jpg

[Runespider]

Why are they making more people suffer why not move the servers or something people need their games to ease the suffering of real life.

To be fair, there will be a lot more people thinking this by the end of the week and vastly more if it goes on for a lot longer. Some of which will be ones talking nice right now, it's easy to talk nice on the internet but a lot harder when you really start feeling the fallout for an extended amount of time, especially from something that really has no other real effect on you aside from watching CNN. It's like seeing a homeless person die on the street and saying how terrible it is and how something needs to be done while you drive home to play xbox in your comfy house, and then the goverment increasing taxes to tackle it (cause they mistakenly took the population seriously) and opinion changing about how terrible it is when it actually has an effect on you and them being kicked out at the next election. Goverments know this which is why they take public outcries with a grain of salt, the internet is like this magnified x1000 cause typing nice stuff is easy. If even half you guys saying this nice stuff sent off some money to the red cross or whichever charity to actually help those people maybe the nice stuff would have an effect.

Ultimately although you can have compassion for the sitauation there this move is being made for reasons aside from the actual problems of the quake etc which probably had little effect on the staff and company itself, they are being shut down to eleviate stress on the power system where the servers are located. If this is a really long term deal then I think moving the servers should really be taken in consideration because it will hurt them and the game if it's down too long.

No matter how bad people feel about the disaster it won't stop them going off and playing something else and possibly not coming back. Added to that, I would bet good money on a % of the players being too stupid to actually read the announcement properly and thinking the game just shut down for good.

[Rubeus]

i think the only way i can agree with that is 1: for the japanese playerbase, some of them would probably rather be zoned out on ffxi than putting on 3d glasses for the fukushima plant... and 2: for SE, I don't want to see them go under from this.

However I still stand on that this is a horrible tragedy and getting people into new homes and replacing lost crops and jobs comes first. Japan had a volcano erupt on kyushu not too long ago too; this just doesn't seem to be their year. >_>

[Izzybella]

Although its not much, since SE has said they are not charging for the April billing cylce, I am sending that money to charity to help with recovery efforts in Japan.

GREAT idea! I will be doing that also!

Prayers to all affected by this horrible disaster.

[Rohwenn]

FFXI has meant alot to me over the years: fun, comradery, and the occasional bit of frustration.

One of the things that online games hopefully teaches, besides the perseverance to keep going after Maat disembowels us several times before we gloriously beat the old geezer, is how to be part of a community. Being part of a community means empathy, the ability to understand and sympathize with what happens to others.

Our community is different in that its virtual. Which means most of us can do little else than empathize with what Japan is going through right now. But it is still a community where people laugh, cry, and share a piece of themselves with those around them. Its a community where we support each other.

Something terrible happened to the people of Japan. They lost loved ones and the sense of ease of continuity that comes from everyday life. Their lives are different now because the earthquake took away a feeling of safety and normalcy. Houses can be easily rebuilt, streets repaved, power and phone lines restored. But losing a sense of security is harder to repair. So what is needed right now is compassion. Japan needs to be shown that they are not alone, that oceans and miles do not seperate us from them.

What I am ultimately saying is as you push on, working to bring your lives back to what they were before the earthquake, know that we, the patrons of FFXI and FFXIV, are here wishing you the best and waiting patiently for your return.

Thank you

[Moink]

I'm not trying to be an ass or a big meany or anything, but don't they have servers co-located in L.A. that they could use, rather than shutting down the entire service? I mean, I feel for them over there, a friend at work has family that she hasn't been able to contact in Japan, and that's pretty damn scary. Shut down the servers in Japan, conserve the power there for those who need it, hospitals, emergency crews, whatnot. Run off of co-located servers, so that those of us who weren't affected by the quake (NA, EU, southern Japan, East Asia) can still play the game, providing Squenix with money, that can go towards helping those in need. It's a win/win situation.

The servers located in the US and EU are only satellite servers that help provide distribution across the country ... they don't hold a candle of importance to the JP servers. You want to donate money do with the companies that already have donation websites up and running.

[Selzak]

If anyone wants to offer condolences there's a thread in the Japanese General Discussion forum.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/1488-Japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami