Magnitude 8.9 offshore quake + tsunami kills hundreds in Japan...plus a FB check-in with Sachi

Thoughts, prayers, well-wishes and "stay safes" -- those and all other expressions of support to the people of Japan, the Pacific Island nations, Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast.

07:02 PST TOKYO, Japan:

A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.

Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii and warnings blanketed the Pacific, putting areas on alert as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast. In Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant in the northeast was evacuated after the reactor's cooling system failed.

Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture (state) closest to the quake's epicenter. Another 88 were confirmed killed and at least 349 were missing. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster.

At 6:45 PT (AP):

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Kauai was the first of the Hawaiian islands hit by the tsunami. Water rushed ashore in Honolulu, swamping the beach in Waikiki and surging over the break wall in the world-famous resort but stopping short of the area's high-rise hotels.

Waves about 6 feet high were recorded on Maui, and 3 feet in Oahu and Kauai. Officials warned that the waves would continue and could become larger, but a scientist at the tsunami warning center said it didn't appear that they would cause major damage in Hawaii.

A check-in with Sachi

When I first woke up and turned on the TV and heard the news, I immediately thought of my friend (and fellow Journey fan) Sachiko Kichijima. We met for the first time in Las Vegas to see the band kick off its 2011-2012 word tour at Planet Hollywood. She was the belle of the ball as she was the fan who journeyed the longest distance (a 24-hour series of flights) to see the group. (And you think I'm crazy about Journey -- Sachiko has seen the group at least 30 times, going back to the 70s Steve Perry era)! I hopped on Facebook and posted a note.

Sachi, I just got up and saw the news and immediately thought about my "long lost sis" overseas. The fires and damage reports look awful. Good thoughts to those in the path of danger to stay safe.

Fortunately, Sachi and her family are safe; in her part of the country (she's in a small town between Tokyo and Osaka) she said there was not a lot of shaking or damage; she still had power and was watching the tragedy unfold in her country. She later posted:

Thank you so much for you thoughtful concern. At least my family, our fellow Japan plokkers and I are safe and Ok. Hope the Tsunami won't affect the west coast of USA.

...

Thanks again for the prayers, thoughts and concern, my sweet FB/APR friends arond the world. Please take care/Ingat po. Now my thoughts go to the affected places and people. It seems to be one of the longest and saddest night in the history in Japan

"Plokkers", btw, is a reference to Journey fans who frequent the chat room of the Arnel Pineda Rocks web site where the frontman visits from time to time. There was an outpouring of inquiries and support on Sachi's Facebook page from the Plokkers, all wanting to know that she was out of harm's way.

It's just a reminder how much smaller the world has become with the age of the Internet. I was able to follow the news in the moment as it ran across my Hootsuite page of Twitter feeds. In so many ways, traditional blogging is even too slow to convey the instant emotion; we're dependent on microblogging -- FB and Twitter -- to connect in real time.