Updated 15 March 2011

On Friday 11 March 2011, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of North-eastern Japan at 2:46pm. The quake lasted for more than two minutes and was recorded as the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan since the late 1800s. It ranks as the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than one that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

The earthquake was followed by power failures, fires and a devastating 7-meter tsunami that washed away lives and towns in North-eastern Japan. Tsunami warnings were issued across the entire Pacific Ocean, including the coastlines of North America, Hawaii, South America, New Zealand and Indonesia. Fortunately, the waves were not as severe as expected.

Hours of aftershocks were reported; the US Geological Survey said 124 aftershocks were detected off Japan's main island of Honshu, 111 of them of magnitude 5.0 or greater.

Japan lies on the Ring of Fire, an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur.

DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE QUAKE
The Japanese earthquake and tsunami has resulted in extensive destruction of the nation’s infrastructure, property and people:

• The death toll is expected to exceed 10,000
• About 2,00 bodies were found on the shores of Miyagi, which suffered the greatest damage so far
• Many more people are injured or missing
• Homes and buildings were damage and roadways were split open
• In spite of deploying 100,000 Japanese troops and more than 500 foreign rescue experts, relief operations are impeded by the damage to the disaster region’s ground transportation network (including roads, railways and ports) and the crippling of the power infrastructure.
• Fires burned out of control
• More than 4.4 million households do not have electricity
• Officials declared the first-ever state of emergency at a Japanese nuclear power plant and ordered evacuations after the earthquake knocked out power to a cooling system. They said radiation levels inside the facility had surged to 1,000 times more than normal.
• The tsunami swept over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing direction and carrying people, cars, homes and other debris out to sea.
• people took refute on the roofs of submerged buildings
• In Hawaii, the tsunami hit the shores before dawn on Friday. Low-lying areas in Maui were flooded by 7-foot waves. On the Big Island, where the waves were more serious, water covered beachfront roadways and swept into hotels. One house was lifted up and carried out to sea.
• In the United States, marinas and wharfs in California and Oregon felt the greatest force of the tsunami on its shorelines where damage is estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Boats crashed into each other in the marinas and some liners were washed out to sea.

SHIA COMMUNITY IN JAPAN
Whilst earthquakes are common in Japan, the severity of this ‘latest and greatest’ one has unnerved the residents of Japan who have over the years learned to live with tremors. With widespread destruction, food, water and fuel are reported to be running short in some parts of Japan where even the Shia Muslim community was affected.

Reports received indicate that all of our community members living in the quake-affected zone are safe and healthy. However, most of them have lost their businesses as well as some of their properties. Efforts are underway to relocate these and other non-Muslim families to other parts of Japan, find suitable shelters for them, and then help them restart their businesses. These efforts are at the mercy of the roadways and transportation services which are not fully functioning.

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FUND:   YOUR DONATION MATTERS
The World Federation of KSIMC in partnership with The Africa Federation, CoEJ and NASIMCO is launching the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund to raise donations to help the people of Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake. Your donation will help in aid and relief efforts of the victims of this disaster. Community members around the world are urged to donate generously to help the people of Japan. 

TO DONATE:
Donate on The World Federation Website
Donate in Canada or USA, (via NASIMCO)
Donate in Europe (via CoEJ)

For more information, please email relief@world-federation.org