Google releases first satellite images of Japan after quake
Google on Saturday released its first satellite images of Japan since the devastation that followed a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit the island nation Friday afternoon local time.
The images, from Google partner GeoEye, were generated by the IKONOS satellite. Google Earth users may view images from Kamaishi, located to the north of Sendai, an area extremely hard hit by the quake and tsunami. In the images, taken Saturday morning, Kamaishi is somewhat obscured by cloud clover.
Photos: Scenes from the earthquake
In addition, Google released satellite images of Tokyo, also taken Saturday morning. Keep in mind that the images must be viewed using Google Earth, which can be downloaded onto your computer.
With Google Earth installed these links will let you view:
— Kamaishi (north of the northern Japanese city of Sendai, which was devastated by the quake) , and Tokyo.
— This is the before-and-after view of Kamaishi in Google Earth.