Vatican City, Mar 12, 2011 / 18:03 pm
Pope Benedict XVI expressed his solidarity with the dead and their families in Japan, as the Japanese Church makes quick plans for relief efforts following a deadly earthquake and tsunami.
On March 11, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Japan and a lengthy series of aftershocks sent enormous waves up to two miles inland in some low-lying areas, uprooting houses and obliterating entire towns.
Experts are comparing the power of these tidal waves to those that struck south-east Asia in 2004 and took more than 200,000 lives.
According to a report from CNN, Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology calculated that the Japanese earthquake was so strong the planet shifted on its axis by nearly four inches.