Mormon missionaries in Sendai OK

SALT LAKE CITY — LDS Church officials confirmed Saturday morning that all its missionaries serving in Japan — including those of the Japan Sendai Mission — are safe and accounted for following Friday's devastating magnitude-8.9 earthquake.

Five of the six Japanese missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had confirmed safe status for its missionaries the same day of the quake, Japan's strongest-ever on record.

However, confirmation with the Sendai mission — closest to the earthquake's epicenter of Japan's northeast coast — was incomplete Friday because of downed communications systems and limited travel accessibility in and around the city.

Hundreds are reported dead or missing, with tens of thousands displaced hundreds of buildings and homes destroyed as strong aftershocks continue to rattle the area.

LDS leaders in Japan and Salt Lake City continue to monitor the situation and assess the needs of its members and others in the affected communities.

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