Okinawa Far from Earthquake in Sendai Japan

There was an earthquake tonight off the coast of  Sendai, Japan.

People have already begun asking how we are in Okinawa.

All is well on our island and there is nothing to worry about in the whole Ryukyu Island Chain.

To the best of my knowledge, there were no casualties in the Sendai area.

The quake took place about 6 miles under sea level.

A small tsunami, about a meter high was experienced shortly after 6PM.

Tsunami warnings have been lifted so, all should be well, for now.

Those with friends or family in Okinawa, Japan need not worry.

The map above, courtesy of Worldatlas.com shows how far Okinawa is from Sendai.

The island of Okinawa is in the lower left-hand corner of the map.

Sendai, is well over 1,000 miles to the northeast of this Ryukyu Island.

 If you really need something to worry about, here ya go:

THE MAYAN CALENDAR ENDS DEC 21, 2012

 AHHHHHHHHHH !!!

Flower (Photo) An Orange Hibiscus From Okinawa, Japan

Here's one for my flower loving friends. First thing this morning, heading to the big city, I asked my shooting partner, Doc (GOYAREPUBLIC), if he wanted to get some photos of this hibiscus before they disappear again.

Every morning, when I walk my dogs to the beach I pass by this hibiscus plant. When it blooms it has some beautiful flowers. Early morning is when the light hits them just right. Lately, we've been having some cloudy and rainy days. It always seems when the light is right, either I don't have my camera with me, or the darn thing isn't blooming.

Yesterday, when I walked the three mutts by the place, I saw this gigantic flower blooming, the sun was hitting it perfectly and there was no wind blowing. 

So, I walked the dogs real fast.  I was going to take them home and grab a camera to shoot the hibiscus.

By the time I got home, the weather turned miserable.  So, I turned miserable, too.  That's what I do.

Today, two of us, with a car full of cameras drove out of our way to snag some shots.  We were headed to Naha, the capital of Okinawa. The first thing we shot before leaving my village was this flower.  It was cloudy and windy but, it had to be done today. 

Sometimes, with an assistant, you can make shots that would be impossible when you are alone. 

At least one person can keep an eye out for the police.  That's if someone calls them because they don't want you on their property, shootin' their flowers.  It was Sunday morning, over here so, I think everybody was still sleeping. Nobody bothered us and we got the flower shots and escaped. Hah !

And, what a day it turned out to be.  I got a pile of Sunday Silly Signs photos for future posts.  Some great shots of Okinawan Sanshin, even a dude playing one for us.  Eisa Dancers, in conjunction with an FM Radio Station, were performing right in front of my camera.  They were helping raise relief funds for the disaster victims up around Sendai, Japan and, I even took some food photos.  So, there's enough pictures for me to post here, even if I don't get out with the camera for another week.

For now, this Orange Hibiscus will have to do the trick.  I started researching, because I like to find scientific names for all these things but, with over 200 kinds of Hibiscus, I'm lost.  You could name it the Orange Hibiscus from Okinawa owned by the people who sleep late on Sunday and don't call the police because they didn't know two foreigners were in their yard taking pictures if you want to, I guess.

OTHER FLOWER-RELATED POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY ARE:

CHERRY BLOSSOM

EASTER LILY

GOLDEN TRUMPETS

ORCHIDS

ORCHID LOVERS PHOTO ESSAY

PURPLE IRIS

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan Far Away From Okinawa

Here's a photo of what Okinawa, Japan looked like after the last earthquake I reported on in February 2010 and this is pretty much what I expect it to look like tomorrow, except, it may not be so sunny.

There's a flood of emails coming in and I appreciate everyone's concern. This is the quickest way for me to reply. Please pass this on to anyone who may be worried.

Okinawa island is hours away, by plane, from where all the damage has been done.

If you hear anything about Taiwan getting hit, I'm closer to that island than I am to mainland Japan.

So far, the worst of the tsunami has passed. It was something like 20 centimeters (8 inches) from what I've gathered. Please don't worry about me. I can handle worse things than that. I'm a married man !

I have found that the  GOOGLE CRISIS RESPONSE  seems to be the best place to go for maps, locations and accurate updates.

The folks up in Sendai are the ones we all need to be concerned about and I hope everyone helps them make a speedy recovery.

You may also like: MY POST CONCERNING HOW YOU CAN HELP


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