8.9

Yowsa! Poor Japan. That's a whole lot of energy releasing all at once. Of course, the media are all concentrating on the tsunami it generated and which is moving east even as I type, but the quake itself is going to provide lots of interesting information over the next few weeks.

If you're curious:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/