Disaster in Japan; Donation Information

This was one of the four worst earthquakes ever recorded in history, anywhere.  It is the worst Japan has ever had at 8.9 which is exponentially worse than the Haiti quake of last year at 7.0 quake as shown in this graph.
 It moved an island off the coast of Japan eight feet to the east.  The resulting tsunami, travelling at more than 500mph was a 30 ft. wall of sludge, water, and debris surging six miles inland as well as heading across the Pacific Ocean toward Hawaii, our mainland west coast and the west coast of South America which it has yet to reach.

The tsunami wiped out miles of flatlands, farms, 
and the coastal city of Sendai

There were reports of the initial quake lasting two minutes or more.  Coolants are being flown from the U.S. to Japan where two reactors at a nuclear power plant are unstabel and could overheat to the point of possible meltdown.  We all know what that means.
Japan sits at the intersection of three tectonic plates and accounts for 30% of all earthquakes over 6.0.  Being an earthquake prone country they are prepared with their building codes and emergency plans  but the magnitude of this one  combined with  the resulting tsunami, fires, and looming nuclear disaster makes this situation impossible to prepare for.  It's all about search and rescue now. 

 If you want to help, The American Red Cross has set up a special designation for disaster relief efforts in Japan.  To donate  go here or text REDCROSS to 90999 to instantly donate $10 (details here).