Give but give smart.

PSA for those of you who want to help relief efforts in Japan: Make sure that you donate to an organization that Japan is actually accepting aid from! So far Japan has only requested help from Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, Save the Children, and a few other organizations. If you give through http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/ they will disburse your money directly to groups that are already on the ground in Japan.

Also another PSA, shamelessly copied and pasted from azuire: If you want to send a message to someone in the affected areas where all phone lines are down, NHK will broadcast your message on their TV service. The numbers on which to place your message are 03 5452 8800, or 050 3369 9680. if you are calling from outside Japan, please remember to put +81 before the number.

More Japan links/Useful info for donations

TEPCO is updating their English-language website with hourly technical briefings on the status of their reactors, including the two in Fukushima that may or may not have experienced meltdowns.

More terrifying Science Facts: The initial 8.9-magnitude quake has opened up a new gigantic fault in the seabed and tilted the Earth's axis by 10 cm.

HuffingtonPost is reporting that parts of Japan have literally sunk - because the quake was caused by the Pacific plate slipping ten meters below the North American plate - which in turn may have lowered the elevation of huge chunks of Pacific terrain, including Japan. Says the geologist quoted therein: ""You see cities still underwater; the reason is subsidence. The land actually dropped, so when the tsunami came in, it's just staying."

Speaking of HuffPo, they have also set up an excellent page keeping track of which charity/aid organizations are already on the ground in Japan and what kind of work they are doing. If you have money to donate, please donate to these groups in order to make sure that your money will directly help somebody in need.