Video captured the tsunami in Japan as it swept over an airport in Sendai, the largest city in Miyagi prefecture. At least one plane was picked up by the wave and carried along the runway, which was quickly transformed into a raging river:

Elsewhere, an oil refinery was seen burning in video from the Japanese broadcaster NHK:

President Obama issued a statement on the earthquake on Friday:

Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis. The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial. The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy. We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials as I have instructed F.E.M.A. to be ready to assist Hawaii and the rest of the US states and territories that could be affected.

According to pool reports cited by Politico, Vice President Biden, who is in Moldova, said as he met with the country's prime minister, "The thoughts and prayers of the American people, and I'm sure the Moldovan people when they find out, are with our friends in Japan."

Hawaii braced for a tsunami as warning sirens rung out through the night following Japan's large earthquake.

The state ordered evacuations of its coastal areas on Friday as a tsunami warning was extended to most of the Pacific basin, including northern California and Oregon, Reuters reported.

The main airports on at least three of the major Hawaiian islands -- Maui, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii -- were shut down as a precaution, news agencies reported.

Honolulu's KRON television is live streaming coverage and Big Island Video News has raw video of some of the evacuations.

CNN reports that the first wave is expected to reach the islands, roughly 3,800 miles from the quake's epicenter, in the next 20 minutes.

Japanese television images, reposted by Britain's Telegraph newspaper, captured a whirlpool off the eastcoast of Japan.

Japan declared a state of emergency Friday at a nuclear power plant after its cooling system failed following a massive earthquake, news agencies reported. There was no leak reported.

The government ordered thousands of residents near the plant to evacuate.

Other industrial facilities were also hard hit by the powerful quake. Video captured industrial fires, which appeared to erupt moments after the earthquake. Below, smoke rose over the port of Odaiba, across from central Tokyo.

Video below is said to capture an explosion at a Japanese oil facility. The exact location was not immediately clear.

Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake is the fifth largest recorded by the United States Geological Survey since 1900. The U.S.G.S. has a list of the fifteen biggest on its Web site, including:

1. 1960 -- 9.5 -- Chile
2. 1964 -- 9.2 -- Prince William Sound, Alaska
3. 2004 -- 9.1 -- Sumatra
4. 1952 -- 9.0 -- Kamchatka, Russia
5. 2011 -- 8.9 -- Friday in Japan
6. 2010 -- 8.8 -- Offshore Maule, Chile

The English-language news network Russia Today posted a video on its YouTube channel purporting to be closed circuit television footage of the tsunami overtaking an airport.

A YouTube user FullGoals1000 posted video that appeared to show a store in Japan where employees, customers and goods on the racks were violently rattled by the earthquake.

A YouTube user gakiAkanji3, evidently a fan of Japanese animation, posted a claustrophobic video of the earthquake rattling his shelves of books and videotapes.

Television networks across the world carried dramatic footage, some of it live, of the tsunami that hit northern Japan after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast.

The Associated Press posted videos from the Japanese broadcaster NHK on their YouTube channel, the first of which shows the tsunami sweeping away buildings as it carries debris across a vast swath of farmland:

Another shows boats and cars being washed under a bridge as the water rushed inland:

One YouTube user in Tokyo posted video from the beginning of the earthquake. "I stopped filming when stuff start to fall everywhere in the office, so I ran outside," wrote MrLifeYou.

Al Jazeera English's report included footage from inside the newsroom of a Japanese broadcaster when the earthquake hit: