On Friday morning, at 12:46 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake roared to life off the coast of Honshu, Japan. The quake was the largest in the nation’s history, with some of its 140 aftershocks the size of the earthquake that devastated Haiti last January. The earthquake triggered a massive tsunami, which hurtled towards Japan at speeds exceeding 500 miles per hour.

The tsunami penetrated several miles inland, sweeping up cars, buildings, and people as it went. Even Hawaii and California felt the effects of the tsunami, as the governors of both states issued declarations of disaster yesterday when the massive wave hit.

When junior Taylor McDonnell first heard of the earthquake at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, she immediately rushed into her parents room to wake up her mom. Her aunt, uncle, and three cousins live on the coast in Japan, and McDonnell was worried something may have happened to them.

“I turned on the radio and heard the news and was extremely worried. I went and woke up my mom and told her to call Japan, because I knew they lived by the coast, and their house wasn’t very stable,” McDonnell said.

And McDonnell had every right to be worried, especially considering the large death toll and missing persons list. The death toll is expected to far exceed 1,000 people, and roughly 9,500 people from Minamisanriku, population 17,000, are reported missing.

Later that morning, however, McDonnell heard the news that her family was indeed safe.

“My uncle sent an email from work, because he was at work when the earthquake hit, saying that he was okay, but that he couldn’t get in touch with my aunt. Then, four hours later, he sent an email saying that my aunt and cousins were safe,” McDonnell said.

The earthquake also disrupted transportation, which is a major problem considering the thousands of people trying to evacuate the affected area. Many gas stations have been destroyed, forcing people to wait in long lines at the few stations still open. Also, the quake destroyed railway lines and disrupted flight schedules, leaving 23,000 people stranded in airports.

Besides wiping out power for six million Japanese residents, destroying thousands of buildings, and flooding vast areas of land, the earthquake also caused an explosion at Fukushima Daiichi, a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

According to a Japanese government official,two of the three reactors are experiencing “major problems,” and a meltdown may very well be occurring right now. As a result of the dangers associated with a nuclear meltdown, 180,000 people within 6-12 miles of the plant have been evacuated. Despite these efforts, at least nine people have been exposed to radiation.

Relief is on the way, though. 48 nations and the European Union have extended aid to Japan, offering crucial supplies and personnel. At this very moment, the U.S. Seventh Fleet is steaming towards Japan from Indonesia, and is expected to arrive in several days.

However, Japan, unlike Haiti, has a stable government, and, given its geographic location and seismic history, is somewhat prepared for this type of disaster. Therefore, they are able to provide a significant amount of aid to themselves, greatly reducing the burden on foreign nations such as the United States.

While McDonnell believes the devastation is bad enough as it is, she believes it could have been much worse under a slightly different scenario.

“I’m just glad the epicenter wasn’t on land, because that would have been just terrible. A lot more damage would have been done to the buildings and more people would have died,” McDonnell said.