Japan's earthquake and tsunami is likely to have killed more than 10,000 people in one state alone, according to the police chief of Miyagi prefecture (state) on Sunday.

Miyagi is one of the hardest-hit prefectures by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami.

"This is Japan's most severe crisis since the war ended 65 years ago," said Prime Minister Naoto Kan to reporters. more >>

Prominent evangelical pastor John Piper described the scenes of the tsunami in Japan as "apocalyptic."

"The power of moving water is greater than most of us can imagine. Nothing stands before it," he said in a blog post Saturday.

Videos and images of the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck off the east coast of Japan and of the tsunami that followed on Friday have left the world in shock. more >>

The death toll in Japan is feared to top 1,700 as a result of Friday's disastrous earthquake and tsunami.

So far more than 600 are confirmed dead. The latest numbers come from Japan's Kyodo News.

''I hope we can overcome this unprecedented national crisis by the power of each individual and the government as well as relevant institutions," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Saturday, as reported by the local news agency. more >>

A tsunami crashed into Japan's east coast on Friday, swallowing towns and killing at least 133 people, according to Kyodo News.

Aid agencies and churches are on standby, planning how to best respond to the enormous disaster.

“Unfortunately we have not heard from people of northern Japan except from the news on the Internet," Shinya Samuel Yawata, secretary of The Anglican Communion in Japan, told the Anglican Communion News Service. "All phone lines are down because of heavy usage so we do not know much about what is going on. Viewing the Internet we can see that damage is substantial and already many deaths have been reported.” more >>