Hokkaido (Northern Japanese island) has been hit by the strongest earthquake worldwide since 2001, at 4:50 this morning. At least 243 people were injured, 16,000 homes were left backed out, and 41,000 people were evacuated. Fishing boats also capsized, a train derailled, a fire started in an industrial plant, etc... The city of Kushiro was hit by a 1 meter tsunami.

I could even feel it in Tokyo!

This earthquake was centered in Pacific Ocean, 100 kilometers east of Hokkaido's eastern coast and 800 kilometers north-northeast of Tokyo.
Its magnitude was 6 on Japan Scale (out of 7) and 8.0 on opened Richter's scale.

It was followed by some aftershocks, a few hours later. One of them was 6 on Japan Scale (7 on Richter's). These aftershocks could go on for up to 10 days.

Really a good time to leave Japan, isn't it?