The search for survivors continues in Japan following the worst earthquake in the country's history, and the monumental damage caused by the quake—and tsunami that followed—remains incalculable. Here are some photos of the scene on the ground from the past 24 hours. [Images via AP]

For all you looking for a tween-angle to the earthquake: The Twilight cast has been evacuated from their beachside set in Vancouver Island after a Tsunami advisory was issued for the West coast of Canada. According to People: "The actors are not believed to be in any danger, but for safety measures they apparently have been moved out of the region." The earthquake is not supposed to cause large waves on the Canadian coast.

Japan continues to uncover the full extent of the devastation from this morning's massive earthquake; meanwhile, tsunami waves head towards the West Coast of the U.S., and South America. The latest news updates are below.

The first tsunami waves generated from this morning's massive earthquake near Japan have now reached the Hawaiian islands. So far, everyone appears to be safe. The word from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

Earlier this morning an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale rocked Japan. Here are all the must watch videos coming in from the small island nation. Are we missing any? Email us at tips@gawker.tv and we'll add them.

Authorities in Japan said at least 32 people have died in the largest earthquake in the country's recorded history. A disaster management official told the AP, "We don't even know the extent of damage." [AP]

This is CNN's horrifying, engrossing video of the first tsunami that hit the Japanese coast after Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake; apparently, this is muddy water from the Natori river in northeast Japan, pushed upstream into farm fields, taking with it whole buildings.

An earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale just hit off the coast of Japan on Friday, sending a massive, terrifying wave to the country's northeast and causing untold amounts of damage.

The rumors were true: Julie Taymor has been officially pushed out of her role as director of the disastrous Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Taymor was made to leave after she refused outside help on the production, according to the Times. Now it will be up to Bono, the Edge and The Boy from Oz director Philip William McKinley to turn the thing around. (Oh, and opening night has been delayed again, of course.)

Citing unnamed "sources," NY1 reports that director Julie Taymor is leaving the troubled Spider-man musical Turn Off the Dark. The news comes a day after The New York Times wrote about ongoing "negotiations" between Taymor and the musical's producers, including U2 members Bono and the Edge, who wrote the musical's songs.

Alert: It is now virtually impossible to buy a fucksaw. I know; I know. JT's Stockroom, which is apparently the world's leading and perhaps only supplier of genuine fucksaws ("You hold it like a gun, and drill into the ass or vagina with powerful and steady force"), is completely sold out: "Due to high demand, this item is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please check back soon!"

Oh dear. A site called Brokelyn, for the recession-affected Brooklyn dweller, has published a "First Person" article entitled "How to survive as a SAHG (stay-at-home-girlfriend)." Hm! OK. It could be a tongue-in-cheek kind of jokey type thing, right? A humorous essay chronicling the silly misadventures of a young woman stepping into more "traditional" domestic duties while her live-in boyfriend is at work and she's looking for a new job. But... it's just not. It's really just not! Let's observe some samples from Quiana Stokes' strange composition.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand—the second major quake suffered by the city in the last five months—causing "multiple fatalities" and trapping hundreds of people inside buildings. The video above, which is somewhat graphic, shows some of the aftermath.

Boy, that pesky Gulf oil spill thing just won't go away: "I've been to the bottom [...] It's not going to be fine by 2012," marine scientist Samantha Joye told the AP. But BP says otherwise. What gives?

"Strong winds" have toppled the National Christmas Tree — a Colorado blue spruce that has stood since 1978 — the DC fire department said today. We all know who to blame here.

The "Good Old Days" in America, when White Sue and Pale Johnny only viewed their nearest city's urban hellscape through the windows of a speeding SUV as they drove back to the suburbs after watching the big ballgame are over. Consider America's ongoing demographic trends: the evolution of suburbs into slums; the migration of black Americans from Northern cities back to the South; every god damn 22 year-old who's ever strummed an acoustic guitar moving to Austin. The writing is on the wall. And now, the data has confirmed what we all feared: America's cities are full of white kids.

It's a well-known fact that someday, all of New York will be reduced to a smoldering, hellish wasteland, a post-apocalyptic desert so bad it will make The Road look like Sex and the City, a badland consisting of the ashes of a once-mighty city felled by war, disease, terror, or Zu'ul. Luckily, we've got an official legal manual!

A new book claims that some of the 33 trapped Chilean miners smoked marijuana underground. It was smuggled to them in letters from their family:

We will all die eventually, yes, but now we know what will kill us: Aging pipelines! Well, not the pipelines specifically, so much as the explosions that will occur when natural gas leaks from those aging pipelines and then sparks and blows up, as happened in Allentown, Pa. on Thursday, killing six. There is, according to The Wall Street Journal, a "growing consensus that the U.S. has a problem with aging infrastructure," also, "federal investigators... are concerned about the accuracy of utility records on pipelines they operate"; a bill has been proposed to improve pipeline safety but it's unclear whether Republicans will support it. Of course. Look: Just don't light any matches for a while, okay? [WSJ via TDB]

More great news from the wonderful world of Wikileaks: Saudi Arabia is running out of oil! According to a former top Saudi oil executive, as recorded in State Department cables between 2007 and 2009, "Peak Oil" — the pinch point at which global petroleum production reaches its maximum capacity — is a very real problem that we're rapidly approaching.