An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 hit Japan today . It was centered in the Pacific Ocean about 50 miles off Japan's coast, and it struck at around 10:45 a.m. local time ( 11:40 p.m. ET ). Crisis mapping 's reach only goes as far as it is utilized , so the key now is getting the word out that online tools are available to help report the missing . Within a couple hours 2,000 reports had been logged .
An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 hit Japan today . It was centered in the Pacific Ocean about 50 miles off Japan's coast, and it struck at around 10:45 a.m. local time ( 11:40 p.m. ET ). Within a couple hours 2,000 reports had been logged .