Forces of (Nihon) Nature

The above picture is of damage done by an earthquake measuring 6.8 in magnitude that struck the Niigata area on Monday.

"Hundreds of people were injured when the 6.8-magnitude tremor struck the Niigata area.
Four women and three men - all in their 70s and 80s - died from injuries sustained in the earthquake, the National Police Agency said.
City official Takashi Otsuka said about 2,000 people had been evacuated from their homes, while tens of thousands are reported to have no power or running water." from http://www.bbc.com/

The quake also caused radioactive fluid to leak into the sea after the tremors caused havoc at a Nuclear power plant. The plant officials are claiming that there will be no effects on the enviroment.

On Sunday morning, the strongest typhoon of July also hit Japan.

"Typhoon Man-yi was later downgraded to a tropical storm with winds of 83km/h (51mph) as it passed south of Tokyo. Man-yi struck the southern islands of Kyushu and Shikoku on Saturday, killing three people and injuring about 70.
The storm's victims were an 11-year-old boy and a man in his 70s who drowned in separate incidents in Kyushu's Kagoshima prefecture on Saturday. On Sunday, rescuers found the body of a 79-year-old farmer who was swept into a river in the prefecture of Tokushima on Shikoku island.
More than 30,000 have been evacuated from homes along the path of the storm. "from http://www.bbc.com/

Thoughts

It just goes to show how random and aggressive nature can be. I was lucky as the typhoon turned out to be nothing more than a strong storm, and apart from a CD hitting me on the head last year I've been fairly fortunate with earthquakes. However many people have been injured, and my thoughts go out to them and their families.