Japan Earthquake Upgraded to 9.0 Magnitude
The USGS and Japanese seismologists both upgraded the magnitude of Japan's March 11, 2011 quake to 9.0 on March 14.
There have been hundreds of aftershocks following the major earthquake, with more than two dozen at a magnitude of 6 or greater. An additional complication is that the tsunami damaged reactors at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, which now appear to be releasing some level of radiation. For more information on the event, see http://www.windows2universe.org/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html.