Japanese Tsunami

Woke up to the news this morning that 20 minutes before my alarm went off in London, on the other side of the world there occurred a massive earthquake off the Japanese eastern seaboard. When I was there in Tokyo August 2008 I witnessed first hand a short lived 6.8 and that was pretty scary, but this 8.8 is apparently the 6th or 7th most powerful in recorded history.

This has subsequently resulted in a rapidly moving tsunami, and being the technological country it is, for the past 12 hours the rest of the world has been witness to scenes of chaos and destruction as the water moves its way inland and the aftershocks continue.

I can honestly say it's some of the most devastating and helpless imagery I have ever seen. With world leaders pledging support and rescue assistance, the full impact isn't yet evident but it's not going to be good and I'm sure there is more eyewitness footage to come.

Amongst the video footage reported on here in the UK, one image that had most impact on me was the swirling seas just outside what I presume to be Sendai. Like some weird sci-fi event it almost seemed too setup; with it's contained, lone, trapped fishing boat slowly circling and trying to break free. I've created this piece based on that footage of the seawater vortex. Truly astounding scenes.