in VOA Special English.The earthquake that shook Japanwith historic strengthon Friday created a tsunami waveten meters high.The water washed away boats,cars and housesin coastal areas north of Tokyo.It also led to tsunami warningsacross the Pacific.Scientists recorded the magnitudeof the earthquake at 8.9.The United States Geological Survey saysit was the fifth largest earthquakesince nineteen hundred.The largest, with a 9.5 magnitude,shook Chile in nineteen sixty.The quake struck near the east coastof Honshu, Japan's main island.It was centered under the seaabout one hundred thirty kilometerseast of Sendai.The tsunami washed awaywhole neighborhoods in Sendai.President Obama offeredwhatever assistance Japan needs.He had already planned to meetwith reporters Friday, and beganby talking about the disaster.BARACK OBAMA: "First and foremost,our thoughts and our prayersare with the people of Japan.This is a potentiallycatastrophic disasterand the images of destructionand flooding coming out of Japanare simply heartbreaking."Japan is, of course,one of our strongestand closest allies and this morningI spoke with Prime Minister Kan.On behalf of the American people,I conveyed our deepest condolences,especially to the victimsand their families.And I offered our Japanese friendswhatever assistance is needed.We currently have an aircraft carrierin Japan and another is on its way."Japanese media said the tsunamicarried away a shipcarrying one hundred people.Television images showeda whole community on fire.The quake has producedpowerful aftershocks.It also raised concernsabout possible effectson the world's third-largest economy.The economy was the second largestuntil China recentlymoved into that position.Japan was already strugglingto rebuild economic growthand reduce its budget deficitand government debt.Japan has invested a lot of resourcesin preparing for earthquakes.Still, the nineteen ninety-fiveearthquake in Kobe caused an estimatedone hundred billion dollars in damage.The value of the yendropped Friday but then recovered.Japan is the world's third-largestimporter of oil.World prices for oil fell after the quake.This followed weeks of increasesbecause of unrest in the Middle Eastand North Africa.Oil traders said prices fellbecause of a belief that quake damagewill hurt growth in Japanand reduce demand for energy.The quake happened about three hundredseventy kilometers northeast of Tokyo.It shook buildings in the capital,halting all train and subway trafficand leaving many people unable to get home.Joruji Shinozaki wroteon the VOA Learning English pageon Facebook:Friday's earthquake was a nightmare.Suddenly the building where I livein Tokyo shook violentlyand objects began to fall.I was so scared because I've neverexperienced such a strong quakebefore in my life.Another Facebook user in Japan,Mitsutoshi Sato, wrote:It was a frightening experience.The blackout lasted for more than10 hours around me.Thank each and every one of youin the world praying for Japan.And that's IN THE NEWSin VOA Special English.