Citizens from around the world immediately mobilised themselves to send out prayers and messages of support for the victims of the massive quake which struck Japan on Friday afternoon.
A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake shook the east Asian country destroying buildings, roads, bridges and taking lives. Japan’s phone systems and a sizable amount of its power supply were also knocked out.
The quake triggered a massive Tsunami, reputed to be up to 10 metres high at points, which struck the coastline causing further devastation, including starting a fire at a nuclear plant. Japanese media are reporting a governmental declaration of a nuclear power emergency situation, which occurs if there is confirmation of radioactivity leaks from a nuclear power plant or a reactor cooling system breaks down.
Only hours after these terrible incidents, the hashtag #prayforjapan was first on Twitter's top trending topics worldwide.
"Praying for the people of Japan, especially my brother's girlfriends, father and family over there," said one tweet.
Another wrote, "Because they'd do the same for us, times like these, band together. God bless anyone affected by the earthquake."
Celebrities also joined in this call to pray for Japan via Twitter, with Black Eyed Peas man Will.i.am being one of the first to react, saying simply: "Pray for Japan" later adding that he is struggling to sleep with worry.
Hayley from Paramore also urged prayer in Tweeting: "Praying so hard for Japan right now. And also for Hawaii," as did Nicole Scherzinger who said, "My heart goes out to all those affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis. Pls keep Japan in ur prayers. God bless and be with them."
Overall, Japan’s tweet-o-meter is currently extremely high with 1 200 tweets per minute reporting on the disaster, while Google has also posted a link to a Japanese person locator just as they did during the Haiti quake, for loved ones to find each other.
On a non-digital level, international aid groups such as Red Cross are already swinging into action to provide practical assistance to quake victims and their families.
(Image is the special Twibbon released by Twitter in response to the quake in Japan).