6.8 Earthquake in Japan, Iwate Prefecture

In a sign of the times of new technology-- My first news of the earthquake that happened about 30 mins ago in Japan was from twitter. We are still in transit from NRN. Delays in Houston meant missed connections and a layover in Vancouver. But it was weird to log into twitter and have all my updates on the earthquake come from there.

My friends in Japan said that the new earthquake warning system worked. There were warning messages on TV about 30 mins. before the quake.

Not much news yet. It was a big one, and hit past midnight which is a dangerous time as many folks are in homes in bed. Iwate (ee-wah-teh)is a few hours north of Tokyo. More details I am sure will become clear soon. This is going to be the big story in Japan for the next week at least.