Japan Reeling in Aftermath of Massive Quake

A devastated Japan is reeling in the wake of one of the biggest earthquakes on record, which left behind a cracked and shaken Tokyo and coastal towns ripped apart by a 23-foot tsunami. The effects of the massive shaker aren't over yet as sirens in Russia and Hawaii warn of a possible tsunami still to come there. Reports of deaths, injuries and damage are beginning to pour in from Japanese towns. Uncontrolled fires triggered by the quake and billowing black smoke fill the northeastern landscape, and power has been cut off for millions in Tokyo and several coastal towns.

The Pacific appears to have completely slipped its banks in early video from Japanese TV, as waves of ocean water surges over coastal lands. Tokyo's two major airports have stopped all traffic, and train service has been suspended as aftershocks, many of them more than magnitude 6.0, continue to rattle the region. Two nuclear plants on the Pacific Coast were shut down, and a fire is reported at one. The quake, which struck today some 80 miles off the Pacific coast, is the fifth largest in history, reports the Wall Street Journal. (More Japan stories.)