Heartfelt messages of support have been sent to Medway's twinned cities in devastated Japan.

Ito and Yokosuka were on high alert after a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami which killed thousands of people.

Our partner cities ground to a halt, leaving thousands of homes without power, jammed phone lines and airports shut in the wake of the 8.9 magnitude disaster on Friday.

Medway's twinning bosses spoke of their horror at the disaster and sent emails to civic leaders in Ito and Yokosuka - along the Pacific coast from the epicentre.

Cllr Sue Haydock, Japan group chairman of Medway Council's international relations committee and honorary mayor of Yokosuka, said: "We are thinking of people in our twinned towns in their hour of need.

"We are very concerned and anxious. I've had messages from people living in our twinned cities saying they are having to stay in community centres.

"I watched pictures of the tsunami rolling across the countryside and couldn't believe my eyes. It's absolutely terrible.

"Everything's so beautiful in Japan that it's just awful to think of it devastated."

Cllr Haydock also co-ordinates the Will Adams Festival, pictured left, which celebrates the life of the Gillingham-born sailor who became the first Englishman to reach Japan.

It was the link made by Adams that led the former Gillingham Borough Council to forge ties with the Japanese cities in August 1982.

Only on Friday, March 4, representatives from the Japanese embassy attended an event at the Corn Exchange, Rochester, aimed at further strengthening the bond.

Mayor of Medway Cllr David Brake said: "Our thoughts are with the people of Japan and elsewhere who have been affected by this terrible disaster, including those in our twin towns Ito and Yokosuka."

The earthquake was one of the most severe on record, almost 8,000 times stronger than the one in New Zealand that devastated Christchurch last month.

Were you affected by the earthquake? Do you have family in Japan? Leave your comments below, email medwaymessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk or phone the news room on 01634 227803.