Radiation fears after blast in Japan

As radiation levels near the plant rise, people are being checked for exposure

Explosions at a Japanese quake-stricken nuclear plant have led to radiation levels that can affect human health, a senior Japanese official has said.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged those living within 30km (18 miles) of the plant to stay indoors.

Earlier, reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was hit by a blast - the third reactor to explode in four days - leading to fears of a meltdown.

The crisis was sparked by a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on Friday.

Thousands of people are believed to have died.

Exclusion zone

A fresh explosion rocked reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - 250km (155 miles) north-east of Tokyo - in the early hours of Tuesday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, "Now we are talking about levels that can impact human health."

He stressed that such levels were recorded at the plant and that the "further away you get from the power plant or reactor, the value should go down".

In his televised address, Prime Minister Kan said: "There is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out."

He added that the last remaining people within a 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant had to leave, and that those living between 20km and 30km from the site should remain indoors.

Radiation levels around Fukushima for one hour's exposure rose to eight times the legal limit for exposure in one year, said the plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).

The radiation reading at 0831 local time (2331 GMT) climbed to 8,217 microsieverts an hour from 1,941 about 40 minutes earlier, Tepco said. The annual legal limit is 1,000 microsieverts.

Higher radiation levels were recorded on Tuesday south of Fukushima, Kyodo news agency reported.

The French embassy said low-level radioactive wind could reach Tokyo within hours.

Mr Kan also said a fire had broken out at the plant's reactor 4. It now appears to have been put out.

The high radiation levels prompted the BBC and a number of other international news organisations to withdraw staff from the quake area.

Shares on the Tokyo stock exchange have fallen more than 12%.

On Monday, a hydrogen blast at the Fukushima plant's reactor 3 was felt 40km (25 miles) away. It followed a blast at reactor 1 on Saturday.

All explosions have been preceded by cooling system breakdowns. Engineers are trying to prevent meltdowns by flooding the chambers of the nuclear reactors with sea water.

After the third explosion, officials said the containment vessel around reactor 2 had been damaged.
Complete devastation

Meanwhile, five days after the tsunami triggered by the earthquake, the relief operation is continuing.

The latest official death toll stands at about 2,400 - but some estimates suggest 10,000 may have been killed.

One of the worst-hit towns, Minamisanriku, is now just a scene of complete devastation, says the BBC's Rachel Harvey.

Everything was flattened by the force of the tsunami, with only the town's hospital and a government building remaining, our correspondent says.

Thousands are still unaccounted for - including hundreds of tourists - while many remote towns and villages have not been reached.

The government has deployed 100,000 troops to lead the aid effort.

The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice to warn against all non-essential travel to Tokyo and north-eastern Japan. British nationals and friends and relatives of those in Japan can contact the Foreign Office on +44(0) 20 7008 0000.

France: low-level radioactive wind may reach Tokyo in 10hrs

TOKYO - A fresh explosion at Japan's quake-stricken nuclear power plant damaged the roof above its overheating No.2 reactor on Tuesday and steam is rising from the complex, Jiji news agency said.

Authorities at the Fukushima Daiichi complex, damaged in Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami, are trying to prevent meltdowns in all three of the plant's nuclear reactors.

Twice before, there have been explosions which have ripped off some roofing from the plant, but these had not damaged the reactor vessels, authorities have said. 

 

 Japanese PM warns about rising radioactive leakage after another explosion at Fukushima plant damages roof, releases steam; French embassy says low level of radioactive wind could reach Tokyo.

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Japan's prime minister warned on Tuesday that radioactive levels had become high around an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant after explosions at two reactors, adding that the risk of more radioactive leakage was rising.

Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility north of Tokyo to remain indoors.

The French embassy in the capital warned in an advisory that a low level of radioactive wind could reach Tokyo -- 240 km (150 miles) south of the plant -- in about 10 hours.

The reactor operator asked the US military for help, while Kyodo news agency said radiation levels nine times normal levels had been briefly detected in Kanagawa near Tokyo.

"We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask you to act calmly," Kan said in an address to the nation.

As concern about the crippling economic impact of the double disaster mounted, Japanese stocks plunged 7.0 percent to their lowest level in nearly two years, compounding a drop of 7.6 percent the day before. The two-day fall has wiped around $500 billion off the market.

There have been a total of four explosions at the plant since it was damaged in last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.

Authorities had previously been trying to prevent meltdowns in three of the Fukishima Daiichi complex's nuclear reactors by flooding the chambers with sea water to cool them down.

The full extent of the destruction wreaked by last Friday's massive quake and tsunami that followed it was still becoming clear, as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.

The US Geological Survey upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.0, from 8.9, making it the world's fourth most powerful since 1900.

Car makers, shipbuilders and technology companies worldwide scrambled for supplies after the disaster shut factories in Japan and disrupted the global manufacturing chain.

Blast damages roof, workers told to leave

The fear at the Fukushima plant is of a major radiation leak after the quake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems.

Jiji news agency said the first explosion on Tuesday damaged the roof and steam was rising from the complex. It also reported some workers had been told to leave the plant, a development one expert had warned beforehand could signal a worsening stage for the crisis.

The worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 has drawn criticism that authorities were ill-prepared and revived debate in many countries about the safety of atomic power.

Whilst the Fukuskima plant's No.1 and No.3 reactors both suffered partial fuel rod meltdowns, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) had earlier said the No.2 reactor was now the biggest concern.

A sudden drop in cooling water levels when a pump ran out of fuel had fully exposed the fuel rods for a time, an official said. This could lead to the rods melting down and a possible radioactive leak.

Japan PM: Radiation leak from Fukushima likely to spread

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday said that the radiation leak from the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi complex is likely to spread after a fresh explosion at the plant.

Speaking at a news conference, Kan also urged people still remaining in a 30 km radius of the complex to stay inside.

Authorities had evacuated residents from within a 20 km zone after the crisis began.

Sendai, Japan (CNN) -- As Japan buckles from a powerful earthquake and a devastating tsunami, residents on Sunday hoped they are spared an even more catastrophic fate: a widespread release of radiation from damaged nuclear plants.

By Sunday afternoon, the death toll from the country's strongest-ever earthquake in more than a century and the crushing walls of water that followed had risen to 801.

An additional 678 were missing, the National Police Agency said. Officials fear the numbers may climb once rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.

The nuclear plants sparked fresh concerns for survivors of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that tore through Japan on Friday, triggering massive waves that ravaged everything on their path.
Residents watched as water rushed in
Search for survivors in Sendai
Sendai helicopter rescue
Families searching for loved ones

"I've not slept since Friday because of aftershocks," said Indri Rosid, who lives in Tokyo.

"Now I have nuclear plants to worry about. We have an idea of what to do when an earthquake hits, but what should I do in a radiation leak?"

Rosid said she has an earthquake emergency kit that includes a flashlight, documents and canned food.

"But I have none for a radiation leak because no one teaches you what to do in that case," she said.

While rescuers scoured the devastated coastline for survivors, authorities faced the possibility of a third crisis.

Officials do not know for certain whether there have been meltdowns at two reactors in a nuclear facility in the northeast, said Yukio Edano, the Chief Cabinet Secretary.

They are working under the presumption that such meltdowns have taken place as they attempt to cool down radioactive material and release pressure inside the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, he said.

A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release.

So far, there have been no indications of dangerously high radiation levels in the atmosphere, Edano said.
Japan resident describes nuke evacuation
83 aftershocks in 21 hours in Japan
Gallery: Massive quake hits Japan
Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan

The government evacuated more than 200,000 residents from homes close to the plant, and tested 160 people for radiation exposure on Sunday, authorities said. It also was preparing to distribute iodine tablets to residents, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said.

"We have the cars filled up and ready for an emergency drive back home to Kyushu in case things get ugly," said Fulco Vrooland, referring to the most southwesterly of Japan's islands.

Attempts to avert a possible nuclear crisis came after Edano said there is a "possibility" of a meltdown at Fukushima's No. 1 reactor.

"It is inside the reactor. We can't see," he said.

He then said authorities are also "assuming the possibility of a meltdown" at the facility's No. 3 reactor.

Edano said only a "minor level" of radiation that is not harmful to human health has been released into the environment -- saying it all came from a controlled release of radioactive steam.

Meanwhile, in neighborhoods swallowed by tsunami-triggered walls of water, rescuers and shell-shocked residents scrambled to reach survivors.

In the city of Ishinomaki, the military was going door-to-door, hoping to find survivors. Instead, they mostly found bodies of elderly people.
Scenes from the quake
Japan's streets unrecognizable after quake
Train cars thrown, crushed in tsunami
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In one coastal town alone -- Minamisanriku, in Myagi Prefecture -- some 9,500 people, half the town's population, were unaccounted for.

The city of Sendai lay in ruins with rescuers trudging through water-logged, debris-filled streets. Around them, cars were stacked on top of each other; and a carpet of sludge covered the remains of what used to be homes.

Sendai lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of the earthquake epicenter

About 2.5 million households -- just over 4% of the total in Japan -- were without electricity Sunday, said Ichiro Fujisaki, the nation's U.S. ambassador. Lights were turned off in most landmarks to save energy, including the Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo.

Scores lined up at the few gas stations, drug stores and supermarkets that were open. Shelves were largely empty as stores rushed to restock.

'We've been provided some water rations ... and we're still not sure when we are to get more," said Matthew Williams, who lives in Shin-Urayasu near Tokyo. "The city has told us we are able to take a bucket to the local elementary school to obtain some water, but the wait is about three hours."

Residents also braved an seemingly endless barrage of aftershocks.

"The aftershocks still keep coming every 10 minutes and my house sways every time," said Tokyo resident Shintaro Higuchi on Sunday, two days after the 8.9-magnitude struck 373 kilometers (231) miles away.

Japanese officials raised the quake's magnitude to 9.0 on Sunday.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported scores of such quakes. More than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand last month, the agency said.

And the death toll is expected to surge. The number of dead in Miyagi prefecture alone "will undoubtedly be in the tens thousands," Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the prefecture's police chief.

Japan plans to dispatch 100,000 members of its defense forces to the quake-ravaged region -- double the previous number -- Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Sunday, according to Kyodo.

At least 48 other countries and the European Union also have offered relief. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived off Japan's coast Sunday morning to support Japanese forces in disaster relief operations, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement.

Friday's quake is the strongest earthquake in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geologic Survey records that date to 1900. The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the agency

source"-http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/japan.quake/

aftershock hits eastern coast japan

Powerful 6.8 magnitude aftershock hits eastern coast of Japan

A powerful 6.8 magnitude aftershock hit the east coast of Japan on Saturday, according to the USGS, following a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake which rocked Japan on Friday afternoon.

At least 14 aftershocks, from 5-6.8 magnitude, hit off Japan's east coast on Saturday.

According to NHK news reports, the death toll from Friday's powerful quake in Japan reached 576 and over 725 were missing on Saturday following some areas suffered devastating damage in the 8. 8 magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in Japan.

The devastating damaged caused by the quake that struck at 2:46 p.m. (0546 GMT) on Friday was amplified by tsunami waves devouring Pacific coastal regions in northeastern Japan.

A total of 725 people have still been unaccounted for in six prefectures following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that could be felt in most regions of the nation.

As all the available Self Defence Force (SDF) resources were mobilized to provide emergency relief on Saturday, the number of victims of the catastrophe is expected to rise to well over 1,000 people, the NPA and Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

Up to 300 bodies were recovered in Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tohoku Region, official said and the Pacific-facing Wakabayashi area of the city was totally levelled by tsunami waves destroying 1,200 homes.

The coastal city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture was also devastated by a tsunami wave. Traveling in-bound at speeds upwards of 500 kilometres per hour, the city was completely engulfed, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The National Police Agency said around 1,800 houses in Fukushima Prefecture were destroyed.

“More than 90 per cent of the houses in three coastal communities have been washed away by tsunami. Looking from the fourth floor of the town hall, I see no houses standing,” a city official from Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, was quoted as saying.

Japan's search and rescue efforts are being conducted with the help of the U.S. military, with around 20,000 SDF personnel, nearly 200 aircraft and 25 boats being dispatched to the hardest- hit northeastern regions.

Rescue helicopters are attending to 80 people stranded on ship in the waters off Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture and have airlifted people to safety from an elementary school in the town of Watari, in Miyagi, local reports said.

Rescue teams from South Korea and other countries are due to arrive in Japan from Saturday to provide further man power.

The Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that 50 nations and regions have offered to provide support following Friday's mega earthquake.

Almost 6 million households were left without power in quake- hit regions on Saturday and four trains operating in the coastal regions of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures have yet to be found following the colossal tsunami.

The local railway company said another train was derailed and nine people had to be airlifted to safety on Saturday.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is monitoring two faltering power plants in Fukushima Prefecture and local residents have been evacuated from the vicinity of the facilities.

At Fukushima's No. 1 plant, the amount of radiation reached 1, 000 times the regular level in the operating room, the agency said and the No. 2 plant is set to release pressure in containers housing nuclear reactors that could result in the leak of radioactive substances.

The failsafe system at the No. 2 plant stopped functioning as the temperature of coolant water exceeded 100 C, the agency said.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday inspected a quake-hit nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, where damage from a radioactive leak is feared, and toured other affected areas.

“I realized the huge extent of the tsunami damage,” Kan told reporters after returning to Tokyo.

The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant opened the valves of the containers housing the reactors to reduce pressure, a move that led to the release of a small amount of radioactive steam.

According to the Tokyo police more than 116,000 people were unable to return to their homes on Friday evening due to train services being halted and heavy traffic.

JR East will continue the suspension of bullet train services on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line through Saturday, the company said.

People in the capital and nine other prefectures were stuck in 163 elevators following Friday's quake, with 88 of them being rescued thus far, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said on Saturday.

Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that rescue teams from foreign countries are set to begin arriving in Japan from Saturday after 50 countries and regions offered support following Friday's powerful earthquake.

powerful earthquake Japan, earthquake, powerful earthquake tsunami warning,  powerful earthquake aftershock,6.8 magnitude aftershock in japan,aftershock hits eastern coast japan

source:- http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article1531315.ece?homepage=true

Over 1,000 killed in quake and devastating tsunami in Japan

Tokyo, Mar 12 (PTI) More than 1,000 people were feared dead in the massive tsunami triggered by Japan''s most powerful earthquake which wrought devastation in northeast coastal Japan forcing the government to declare emergency at two nuclear plants after their cooling systems failed.Kyodo new agency reported that 217 bodied have been recovered while the toll could be over 1,000.The cooling systems in two key nuclear power plants at Fukushima plant were disabled and Japan''s nuclear safety agency has said that the plant will release slightly radioactive vapour from the unit to lower the pressure in an effort to protect the reactor from a possible meltdown.There has been no radiation leak.Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered evacuation of over 45,000 residents living within 10-kilometres radius of the nuclear plants.A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit the country''s mountainous Niigata prefecture northwest of Tokyo early this morning, causing landslides and avalanches and destroying some wooden houses.Yesterday, the gushing waters following the 8.9- magnitude quake, the most powerful since the 1923 tremor in Great Kanto area in Tokyo and its vicinity which was 7.9 on Richter scale and had killed more than 140,000 people, swept houses, overturned ships, vehicles and set ablaze several buildings, including a petrochemical plant.Most of the bodies were recovered from Sendai.Japan''s military mobilised thousands of troops, 300 planes and 40 ships for the relief effort, Kyodo reported. At least 60 people were killed in Iwate prefecture and other places. A 67-year-old man was killed after being hit by a crumbling wall in Chiba prefecture, while a woman in her 50s died after a portion of a roof of a hall collapsed in Tokyo. The National Police Agency said 531 people were reported missing and 627 others were injured in the quake and the 33-foot tidal waves in the country''s northeast coast. Television images showed fires raging in several building complexes as also a major petrochemical complex in Sendai. The tsunami also flooded the Sendai airport. MORE PTI SMJ VMN

source:-http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/over-1000-killed-in-quake-and-devastating-tsunami-in-japan/607299.html

Key benchmark indices, on Friday, edged lower after paring some of intra-day losses reacting to the earthquake and tsunami waves in Japan, even as the sentiment was already affected by tensions of Middle East and North Africa followed by weak US ecomonic data.

Eleven out of 13 sectoral indices on the BSE edged lower, while key indices slipped into red after an intraday recovery pushed in the market into the green for a brief period. Volatility ruled the roost as the market once again faltered as reports of powerful earthquake in Japan. Back home, investors largely ignored the better-than-expected industrial production figures (IIP data) unveiled by the Government at the Centre this afternoon as continuing turmoil in Libya and high crude oil prices weighed on the market sentiment. The popular Sensex at BSE was down 153.89 points or 0.84 per cent to close at 18,174.09. It lost 264.69 points at the day’s low and rose 40.45 points at the day’s high. The 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty was down 48.95 points or 0.89 per cent to settle at 5,445.45 in the day’s closing. The Nifty hit a high of 5,502.70 and low of 5,411.55 during the day. Broader indices wise, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.07 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.12 per cent. Deven Choksey of KR Choksey Securities views that the crisis may not have a direct impact on Indian economy and business. However, the Japanese crisis may have a far reaching effect on Indian auto components company.  “Commodities may get affected as crude prices will come down.” The market breadth, indicating overall health of the market, was weak — after swinging between positive and negative zone earlier — with as many as 1958 shares on BSE declined while 935 shares gained and a total of 115 shares remained unchanged. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3241 crore, higher than Rs 2996 crore on Thursday, 10 March 2011. source;http://www.deccanherald.com/content/144899/japan-quake-jolts-mood-markets.html

At least 200 people have been killed in a massive earthquake in Japan that also triggered a devastating tsunami.  The quake - the most powerful to hit Japan in at least 100 years - caused massive damage and many people are missing and feared dead.

Video images from coastal areas struck by the tsunami showed widespread inundation as mud waves carried tons of debris over farmland in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi prefecture.  Large-scale damage could be seen in various locations along the coast. In Chiba prefecture, a massive oil refinery fire has broken out.

Video clip: Japan earthquake

The powerful quake struck Friday about 125 kilometers off Japan's eastern coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Addressing the nation, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do anything it can to minimize the effects of the disaster.

Kan says he has created an office to deal with the disaster and maintain safety. He says the government will work to reduce the amount of damage to the smallest amount possible.

More than four million homes remain without power. Nuclear power stations, of which there are three in the region, either continued operating or were automatically shut down. Tokyo Electric Power said no radiation leaks were immediately detected.

The quake disrupted transportation across a large part of Japan. Trains automatically stopped, expressways were closed and flights halted.

Japan Rail has suspended all train services in the Tokyo region for the remainder of Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people are stranded in the city or have faced a long walk home.

In Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers away, buildings shook violently and items fell from shelves. The roof of at least one building collapsed.

Piere Manea, a student in Tokyo, ran out of his university dormitory when the quake struck.

"We were in the university building and it was quite strong, so after a few seconds we decided to go down. We were on the fifth floor and it was really strong," Manea said.
The powerful quake struck Friday about 125 kilometers off Japan's eastern coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Addressing the nation, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do anything it can to minimize the effects of the disaster.

Kan says he has created an office to deal with the disaster and maintain safety.  He says the government will work to reduce the amount of damage to the smallest amount possible.

More than four million homes remain without power. Nuclear power stations, of which there are three in the region, either continued operating or were automatically shut down. Tokyo Electric Power said no radiation leaks were immediately  detected.

The quake disrupted transportation across a large part of Japan. Trains automatically stopped, expressways were closed and flights halted.

Japan Rail has suspended all train services in the Tokyo region for the remainder of Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people are stranded in the city or have faced a long walk home.

live report  - Japan quake and Tsunami
LONDON (AFP) – 1528 GMT: Japan's defence ministry is ready to deploy 300 military planes and 40 vessels for post-quake and tsunami relief, Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa says, according to Kyodo News agency.

1525 GMT: Millions of Japanese learnt about Friday's massive earthquake about one minute before they could feel its violent shockwaves, thanks to an early-warning system renowned to be the world's best, my colleagues in Tokyo report.
The sophisticated system is connected to network of about 1,000 seismometers around the country which detect and analyse primary waves of quakes and issue warnings if the tremors are predicted to be powerful.
Primary waves travel faster than secondary waves, which are much more destructive -- meaning that alarms about quakes can arrive moments before the earth starts to shake, just enough time to take cover.
"The system functioned well because warnings were seen on television across the country," Hirohito Naito, a seismic specialist at the Japan Meteorological Agency, told AFP.
1515 GMT: My colleague Kent Nishimura reporting from Honolulu says the largest wave to crash ashore in Hawaii -- some 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) from the epicenter of the quake -- was measured as a six-foot (1.8-meter) surge and hit Kahului, Maui, officials said.
Geophysicist Gerard Fryer with the Pacific center said it was a "significant tsunami," but added Hawaii appeared to have been spared any major damage.
1503 GMT: US President Barack Obama has led the United States in offering "condolences" to the people of Japan, saying his country stood ready to help them after a massive earthquake and tsunami.
"(First Lady) Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis," he said in a statement.
"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."
Vice President Joe Biden also offered the "thoughts and prayers of the American people" during an official visit to Moldova.
"We the United States stand ready to do anything we can to help our Japanese friends as they deal with the aftermath of this tragedy," Biden said.
1454 GMT: The US Navy says there has been no "significant damage" to its fleet or facilities in Japan after the massive earthquake off the coast triggered a tsunami.
"Currently, no reports of significant damage to installations and no damage to US Navy ships in Japan," it said in an official message on the micro-blogging website Twitter.
The US Pacific Fleet said there was no damage on the Pacific island of Guam, where it maintains a base, adding that it was "still awaiting the all clear."
The Pacific Fleet command said it would not be evacuating any personnel or sailing ships out of Pearl Harbor, on the southeastern side of Hawaii's Oahu Island, where the tsunami was expected to strike.
"Projected wave assessments inside harbor indicate no need to sortie ships. Taking all measures to ensure ships secure in port," it said on Twitter.
The Pacific Missile Range Facility on the nearby island of Kauai, however, ordered an "evacuation advisory," saying: "Munitions storage facility is the safe haven for personnel."
1444 GMT: At least 288 people have been killed in the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck off Japan's east coast on Friday, unleashing huge tsunamis along its Pacific shoreline, according to an AFP tally citing police and press reports in Japan.
The National Police Agency said 88 people had been confirmed dead and 349 missing, with 330 others injured in the tremor, my colleagues in Tokyo are reporting.
"The death toll doesn't include the 200-300 dead bodies which were (reportedly) found on the beach of Sendai," a spokesman for the agency said.
Around 200 to 300 bodies were found in a part of Japan's quake and tsunami hit Pacific coast town of Sendai, according to media reports.
Kyodo News and Jiji Press agency said the bodies were reported found in Sendai's Wakabayashi ward following the powerful seabed earthquake that sent a massive tsunami slamming into the coast.
Of the dead, 34 were found in Iwate prefecture, near the epicentre, the agency said. Three were killed in Tokyo.
1420 GMT: An update on the Jiji Press report I posted at 1240 GMT emerging from the small coastal town of Ofunato, north of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, where at least 300 houses have been destroyed and scores are reported missing.
The news agency are now saying police have received an unconfirmed report that 48 people are missing in the fishing town, 23 of whom were believed to be junior-high school students.
The town of 40,000 people gained tragic world fame in 1960 when it was hit by a huge tsunami triggered by a quake across the Pacific in Chile -- the latest of a string catastrophic tidal waves that have hit over the centuries.
1415 GMT: Reports of tsunami warnings around the Indian and Pacific Ocean region keep coming in -- my fellow reporters in Nairobi are saying Kenya's meteorological department has issued a tsunami alert to residents of the country's coastal region but said waves reaching the Indian Ocean coast would be weak.
The department said waves triggered by the powerful earthquake in Japan would reach the Kenyan coast early Saturday.
1406 GMT: More on the major explosion at a petrochemical plant complex in the northeastern Japanese city of Sendai.
TV images in Japan are showing huge orange balls of flame rolling up into the night sky as fires raged around the complex, my colleagues in Tokyo are reporting.
A huge fire also engulfed a Cosmo oil refinery in Iichihara near the Japanese capital as the quake brought huge disruption to Japan's key industries.
Sony Corp. has suspended production at its six plants in Miyagi Prefecture -- which has born the brunt of the magnitude 8.9-magnitude offshore quake and ensuing tsunami -- and its neighboring Fukushima Prefecture, it said, adding it has evacuated all employees there.
Car giant Nissan said it had suspended operations at four plants, with small fires breaking out at a facility in Fukushima and Kawachi County that had since been extinguished. It said two employees had suffered injuries.
1355 GMT: More from my fellow reporters in Honolulu where the first waves from the tsunami have reached Hawaii's shores, according to TV pictures broadcast there.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has reported seeing wave changes at Waianae Harbor at around 3:24 a.m (1324 GMT), shortly before the relatively small waves were seen at Waikiki, my colleagues tell me.
1350 GMT: There has been a major explosion at a petrochemical complex in the city of Sendai in northern Honshu island, following the tsunami triggered by a 8.9-magnitude quake off the coast, my colleagues in Tokyo are telling me, citing local media reports.
1344 GMT: Police in Japan's tsunami-hit city of Sendai say 200-300 bodies have been found on the coast, Japan's Jiji Press agency is reporting.
1340 GMT: The first waves to hit Hawaii from the tsunami triggered by the massive earthquake off Japan have washed up onshore at Waikiki, according to live TV images, my fellow reporters in Honolulu tell me.
1338 GMT: A passenger train with an unknown number of people aboard was unaccounted for in a tsunami-hit part of coastal Japan, my colleagues in Tokyo tell me Kyodo News is reporting, citing police.
The East Japan Railway Co. train was running near Nobiru Station on the Senseki Line connecting Sendai to Ishinomaki when a massive quake hit, triggering a 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami, the report said.
1330 GMT: My colleagues in Tokyo are now reporting that more than 90 people have been killed in the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, citing public broadcaster NHK.
The National Police Agency said at least 60 people had been killed and 56 missing with 241 others injured in the tremor.
1320 GMT: A recap of the key facts following Friday's massive earthquake -- the largest in Japan's history -- that struck off the north-east coast of Japan's main Honshu island at 14:46 local time (0546 GMT).
- the quake struck off the coast of the city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, Honshu island, about 250 miles (400km) north-east of Tokyo at a depth of 20 miles, the US Geological Survey said.
- the quake was followed by more than 40 aftershocks, one as strong as 7.1.
- a 10-metre (33 foot) tsunami triggered by the quake smashed into the Pacific coastline of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures on Honshu island.
Television pictures from Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, showed a tide of black water sending shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through streets and across open farmland, destroying everything in its path.
- At least 60 people have been killed and 56 missing in the quake and resulting tsunami, police told AFP in Tokyo.
The National Police Agency said 241 others were injured.
- Public broadcaster NHK reported at least 300 houses had been washed away in the city of Ofunato, Miyagi Prefecture, while a ship with 100 people aboard was missing.
- US and Japanese seismologists said the quake was the fifth strongest tremor worldwide since 1900 and the seventh strongest in history.
- Authorities have urged 2,000 residents living within a two-kilometre radius of a nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture in the north of Japan's main Honshu island.
Earlier the government declared an atomic power emergency but said no radiation leaks were detected among its reactors
- In the capital Tokyo, where millions evacuated strongly swaying buildings, multiple injuries were reported when the roof of a hall collapsed during a graduation ceremony, police said.
Plumes of smoke rose from at least 10 locations in the city, where four million homes suffered power outages. An oil refinery was ablaze near Tokyo.
- A tsunami warning has been extended across the Pacific to include the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hawaii, New Zealand, the Pacific coast of Russia and North and South America.
1258 GMT: Millions of people in greater Tokyo are stranded far away from home as evening falls after Japan's biggest earthquake on record shut down the capital's massive subway system, my colleagues report from Tokyo.
Countless workers, who had earlier fled violently swaying office blocks, found themselves stuck far from their families -- and unable to speak to them because the overloaded mobile phone system could not carry most calls, they tell me.
Sirens wailed through Tokyo, television helicopters buzzed overhead and people rushed to the city's ubiquitous 24-hour convenience stores, quickly emptying shelves of bento boxes, sandwiches and instant noodle cups.
1255 GMT: Here in London my colleagues on the business desk say New York crude oil has dived back under $100 per barrel as traders bet that a massive earthquake in Japan would slash the country's crude imports.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, fell to $99.01 -- the lowest level since February 25. It later stood at $99.69 a barrel, down $3.01 from Thursday's closing level.
In London midday deals, Brent North Sea crude for April was down a hefty $3.04 to $112.39.
1252 GMT: Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency says that a small tsunami set off by the massive quake in Japan has reached Indonesia's eastern coastline without causing any damage, my colleagues report from Jakarta.
1246 GMT: Japan has asked US forces stationed in the country for help in relief efforts after the 8,9-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated vast areas of the north-east coast on the main Honshu island, my colleagues in Tpkyo tell me, citing Kyodo News agency.
1240 GMT: More than 300 houses either collapsed or were washed away in the city of Ofunato, Miyagi Prefecture, following the quake and tsunami, Jiji Press reports in Tokyo, in an indication of the vast destruction along the Pacific coast.
1236 GMT: Authorities have urged 2,000 residents living within a two-kilometre radius of a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture to evacuate after the biggest earthquake in Japan's history hit the region in the north of the main Honshu island, AFP reports from Tokyo.
1233 GMT: The European Union says it will "mobilise all appropriate assistance" for Japan after the country was hit by a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake, AFP reports from Brussels.
"We learned with great concern the news of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that today struck Japan and the Pacific region," an EU statement issued as leaders of the 27-nation bloc went into an emergency Libya crisis summit.
1230 GMT: China says rescue workers are on standby to go to Japan as other concerned Asian nations pledged their support, AFP reports from Beijing.
Chen Jianmin, head of the China Earthquake Administration, said authorities had already put quake relief personnel, equipment and medicine in place, "ready to depart for Japan at any time", the state Xinhua news agency said.
1226 GMT: The massive earthquake in Japan has sent the stock value of re-insurers plummeting, less than a month after the sector was hit by the deadly tremblor that slammed Christchurch, New Zealand, AFP reports from Frankfurt.
Several re-insurance companies, which back up insurers and are among those hit hard by catastrophes, said it was too soon to estimate the damage but "it will be an expensive event," noted Christian Muschick, an analyst at the private German bank Silvia Quandt.
1218 GMT: Warning sirens are going off in Hawaii as the island scrambles to evacuate its coastlines after the massive earthquake off Japan triggered tsunami alerts across much of the Pacific Ocean, AFP reports from Honolulu.
"This looks like this will be a very serious event," said John Cummings of the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management.
The Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska placed Hawaii and parts of the US West Coast under a warning following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake, urging residents to stay tuned for more information on rising waves.
The warnings also affected coastal areas through Central and South America as well as the western rim of the Pacific.
Hawaii's sirens first sounded at 9:59 pm (0759 GMT Friday) and went off every hour on the hour after that. The first waves were expected to hit the Pacific island state around 2:55 am (1255 GMT) and the US West Coast three hours later.
1213 GMT: Ecuador has ordered preventive coastal evacuations as Pacific Latin American nations from Mexico to Chile issued tsunami warnings following the powerful earthquake off Japan, AFP reports from Chile's capital Santiago.
1208 GMT: More detail on the death toll from the earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck over six hours ago off the north-east coast of Japan:
At least 40 people were killed and 39 missing in the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, unleashing huge tsunamis along its Pacific coast, AFP in Tokyo reports citing police.
The National Police Agency said at least 40 were dead and 39 missing with 244 others injured.
The public broadcaster NHK put the death toll at 44.
"The damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data," an official at the agency said.
Police in Iwate prefecture, near the epicentre, confirmed the deaths of 17 people there.
1202 GMT: The death toll from Friday's massive earthquake off the north-east coast of Japan has risen to at least 40, with 39 missing, AFP reports from Tokyo.
1158 GMT: Japan's historic fishing port of Hakodate is a ghost town, AFP reports, after a two-metre (6.6-foot) tsunami ripped through the centre and authorities told 30,000 people to evacuate.
Wooden boxes and fish containers were scattered through the town, while thousands of frightened residents fled coastal areas, fearful that another wall of water could hit the harbour in the south of Japan's northern Hokkaido island.
Cars jammed roads as train and cablecar services were suspended. Local residents prepared to spend a restless night at shelters as aftershocks continued to shake houses and tall buildings.
1153 GMT: Japan's public broadcaster NHK is reporting Miyagi Prefecture police as saying that a ship with 100 people aboard was carried away by the post-quake tsunami, and its fate is unknown.
1146 GMT: Japan says it is operating on an atomic power emergency footing but says no radiation leaks have been detected among its reactors after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck, triggering a huge tsunami.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared the emergency to enable authorities to implement emergency measures.
Residents living near plants were not required to take special action, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.
"We have declared a nuclear emergency state to take every possible precaution," Edano said. "Let me repeat that there is no radiation leak, nor will there be a leak."
"We ask residents in the areas near power plants to act calmly."
A fire broke out in the turbine building of Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture, but operator Tohoku Electric Power said there were no indications of a radioactive leak, Kyodo News reported.
1140 GMT: Sky News in the UK are reporting that there have been at least 19 aftershocks since the main 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck at 14:46 pm local time (0546 GMT) off the north-east coast of Japan.
1130 GMT: The city of Sendai, the capital of Honshu island's Miyagi Prefecture that has bornb the brunt of the damage from the tsunami, is one of Japan's 19 designated cities and has a population of over a million people.
Public broadcaster NHK is showing pictures of people taking refuge on the roof of the terminal at the city's main airport as cars are seen floating in the surrounding tsunami waters.
1120 GMT: More reports from AFP in the Taiwanese capital Taipei:
Taiwanese authorities say that minor tsunamis set off by a massive quake in Japan reached the island's coastline without causing any damage.
Waves around 10 centimetres (four inches) high hit Taiwan's east and northeast coasts in the evening, the central weather bureau said.
The bureau later lifted the tsunami warning, saying it did not expect more and bigger waves.
Taiwan's central emergency response centre told AFP that the waves had caused no damage.
1110 GMT: The earthquake is the largest ever to hit Japan, the fifth strongest tremor worldwide since 1900 and the seventh strongest in history, according to the US Geological Survey and Japanese seismologists, AFP reports from Tokyo.
1051 GMT: The United Nations says it is ready to send search and rescue teams to quake-hit Japan if the Asian state needs help, AFP reports from Geneva.
"Thirty-five international search and rescue teams are on alert, they are monitoring the situation and ready to help should Japan request aid," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"The UN stands ready to help," she added.
1050 GMT: The death toll from the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that has hit off northeast Japan -- unleashing huge tsunamis along its Pacific coast -- has reached 32, including three in Tokyo, AFP reports from the Japanese capital citing press reports.
The figure could not be immediately confirmed by the Metropolitan Police Agency or the Tokyo Fire Department.
Among the dead are a 67-year-old man crushed by a wall and an elderly woman killed by a fallen roof, both in the wider Tokyo area, press reports said.
Three were crushed to death when their houses collapsed in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.
Police in Iwate prefecture, near the epicentre, confirmed the deaths of 10 people there.
The National Police Agency, charged with compiling nationwide data on natural disasters, could not immediately confirm the figures.
"The damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data," an official at the agency said.
1040 GMT: Marshall Islands disaster management officials have downgraded an earlier tsunami alert to a "tsunami watch" after the massive quake off northeast Japan, AFP reports from the capital Majuro.
"There is no danger as far as we are concerned," said government radio station manager Antari Elbon after receiving notification from officials that the danger of a tsunami had passed.
1038 GMT: New Zealand civil defence officials have issued a tsunami warning for the country and warned people to stay clear of beaches following a massive earthquake in Japan, AFP reports from the capital Wellington.
1030 GMT: Four nuclear power plants closest to a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan have been safely shut down, the UN atomic watchdog says.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's Incident and Emergency Centre "received information from the International Seismic Safety Centre (ISSC) at around 0815 CET (0715 GMT) this morning about the earthquake of magnitude 8.9 near the east coast of Honshu, Japan," the watchdog said in a statement.
1025 GMT: A schoolboy was swept away in Miyagi prefecture -- the region on the northeast coast of Japan's main Honshu island worst hit by the tsunami -- by surging waters and there were fears the toll would keep climbing from the more than two dozen reported dead so far, AFP reports from Tokyo.
The masses of water overwhelmed coastal defences and swallowed up many square kilometres (square miles) of land in the region in scenes reminiscent of the devastation triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Ken Hoshi, a local government official in Ishinomaki, a Pacific port city in Miyagi prefecture.
"The water came as far as to the train station," hundreds of metres (yards) away from the coast, the 41-year-old official said as his city turned into a flood zone.
1020 GMT: A fire has broke out in the turbine building of Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture -- on Japan's main Honshu island -- on Friday, AFP in Tokyo cites Kyodo News as reporting, following the huge 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck at 14:46 pm local time (0546 GMT).
1010 GMT: Taiwan's central weather bureau says minor tsunamis set off by a massive quake in Japan reached Taiwan's coastline without causing any damage, AFP reports from Taipei.
0958 GMT: Belly-up ships, twisted cars and debris from shattered buildings crashed through the streets of port towns on the east coast of Japan's Honshu island on Friday, swept by a tsunami triggered by a huge earthquake which struck off the north-east coast of Japan at 14:46 pm local time (0546 GMT).
A muddy river filled with rubble -- some of it on fire and belching smoke -- raced across rice fields and through towns near Sendai in Miyagi prefecture, aerial television footage from one of the worst-hit areas showed.
A schoolboy was swept away there by the deadly waters and there were grave fears the toll would keep climbing sharply from the more than two dozen reported dead as a cold night settled over Japan.
The huge wall of sea water unleashed by Japan's worst quake on record hit the Pacific coast of Honshu island, sweeping away whole houses and turning harbour areas into scenes of utter devastation.
0950 GMT: The death toll from the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit off northeast Japan on Friday, unleashing huge tsunamis along its Pacific coast, has reached 26, AFP reports from Tokyo citing press reports.
Among the dead are a 67-year-old man crushed by a wall and an elderly woman killed by a fallen roof, both in the wider Tokyo area, press reports said.
0930 GMT: This is Nick Morrison in London taking over the live report from my colleagues in Hong Kong on the huge 8.9-magnitude earthquake that quake that struck off the northeast coast of Japan's main Honshu island at 14:46 pm local time (0546 GMT) Friday.
Stay with us for all the latest updates from our correspondents in Tokyo and in neighbouring countries on the aftermath of the quake as tsunami alerts are triggered across the region.
0906 GMT: Japan's National Police Agency, charged with compiling nationwide data on natural disasters, says it cannot confirm the death toll, with one official saying the "damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data."
0902 GMT: Japanese media reports the death toll has risen to 19. Russian officials say the first tsunami waves have reached reached the Kuril Islands chain, with waves at Shikotan Island reaching one metre (3.3 feet) and waves at Kunashir Island 95 centimeters.
0850 GMT: The Philippine government has strongly urged residents of its Pacific coast to "go farther inland" amid a tsunami threat following a huge earthquake off Japan, AFP repots from Manila.
0845 GMT: Japan warns of imminent strong quake on northeastern Honshu island, AFP reports from Tokyo.
0840 GMT: Japanese press reports say at least eight people have been killed including a 67-year-old man crushed by a wall and an elderly woman killed by a fallen roof, both in the wider Tokyo area. Three were crushed to death when their houses collapsed in Ibaraki prefecture northeast of Tokyo.
0835 GMT: Hawaii is scrambling to evacuate locals and tourists from the coastline after the massive earthquake off Japan triggered a tsunami alert, officials on the Pacific island state said.
0828 GMT: Hawaii orders evacuations after tsunami alert, AFP reports from Honolulu.
0822 GMT: Strong aftershock felt in Tokyo, AFP reports from the Japanese capital.
0821 GMT: Beijing residents report feeling the Japan quake, AFP reports from China's capital.
Workers in some office towers in the Chinese capital, more than 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) from the quake epicentre, reported via chat sites that they had clearly felt the tremor.
However, no injuries or damage were immediately reported in China.
0817 GMT: Japanese PM says no nuclear plant radiation has been detected, AFP reports..
0809 GMT: Japanese government says 'tremendous damage' from quake, AFP reports from Tokyo.
0805 GMT: Hawaii issues tsunami warning, braces for waves, AFP reports from Honolulu.
0804 GMT: The Mariana Islands are on tsunami alert and evacuating citizens after a huge earthquake off Japan, the Pacific state's Emergency Management Office (EMO) said, according to AFP reports from the island's main city Saipan.
0800 GMT: Here is a recap of the main events surrounding the huge earthquake that has struck off Japan's northeast coast:
- A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake hits Japan at 14:46 pm (0546 GMT), unleashing a monster 10-metre high tsunami that sent ships crashing into the shore and carried cars through the streets of coastal towns.
- Many injuries were reported from Pacific coastal areas of the main Honshu island and the capital Tokyo, police said, while TV footage showed widespread flooding in the area. One person was confirmed dead.
- Helicopter footage showed massive inundation in northern coastal towns, where floods of black water sent shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through towns.
- Mud waves were shown racing upstream along the Natori river in Sendai city, blanketing farm fields.
- In the capital, where millions evacuated strongly swaying buildings, multiple injuries were reported when the roof of a hall collapsed during a graduation ceremony, police said.
- Plumes of smoke rose from at least 10 locations in city, where four million homes suffered power outages. Port areas were flooded, including the carpark of Tokyo Disneyland.
- The US tsunami monitoring center widens a warning to virtually the entire Pacific coast, including Australia and South America, after a massive earthquake in Japan.

source:-http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110311/ts_afp/japanquake_51

Hundreds killed in tsunami after 8.9 Japan quake


TOKYO – A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes on record slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away ships, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control.

Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii but did not cause major damage. Warnings blanketed the Pacific, putting areas on alert as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West coast. In northeastern Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant was evacuated after the reactor's cooling system failed.

Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai, the city in Miyagi prefecture, or state, closest to the epicenter. Another 110 were confirmed killed, with 350 people missing. Police also said 544 people were injured.

The magnitude-8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (seven-meter) tsunami and was followed for hours by more than 50 aftershocks, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.

Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter. A large section of Kesennuma, a town of 70,000 people in Miyagi, burned furiously into the night with no apparent hope of being extinguished, public broadcaster NHK said.

"The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference.

The government ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant in the city of Onahama to move back at least two miles (three kilometers) from the plant. The reactor was not leaking radiation but its core remained hot even after a shutdown. The plant is 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.

Trouble was reported at two other nuclear plants as well, but there was no radiation leak at either of them.

Japan's coast guard said it was searching for 80 dock workers on a ship that was swept away from a shipyard in Miyagi.

Even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore, swallowing everything in its path as it surged several miles (kilometers) inland before retreating. The apocalyptic images on Japanese TV of powerful, debris-filled waves, uncontrolled fires and a ship caught in a massive whirlpool resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie.

Large fishing boats and other vessels rode high waves ashore, slamming against overpasses or scraping under them and snapping power lines along the way. Upturned and partially submerged cars bobbed in the water. Ships anchored in ports crashed against each other.

The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing directions and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the homes, probably because of burst gas pipes.

Waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland near Sendai, carrying buildings, some of them ablaze. Drivers attempted to flee. Sendai airport was inundated with thick, muddy debris that included cars, trucks, buses and even light planes.

Highways to the worst-hit coastal areas buckled. Telephone lines snapped. Train service in northeastern Japan and in Tokyo, which normally serve 10 million people a day, were suspended, leaving untold numbers stranded in stations or roaming the streets. Tokyo's Narita airport was closed indefinitely.

President Barack Obama said the U.S. "stands ready to help" Japan.

Jesse Johnson, a native of the U.S. state of Nevada who lives in Chiba, north of Tokyo, was eating at a sushi restaurant with his wife when the quake hit.

"At first it didn't feel unusual, but then it went on and on. So I got myself and my wife under the table," he told The Associated Press. "I've lived in Japan for 10 years, and I've never felt anything like this before. The aftershocks keep coming. It's gotten to the point where I don't know whether it's me shaking or an earthquake."

NHK said more than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs.

As night fell, Tokyo's streets were jammed with cars, buses and trucks trying to get around and out of the city. Pedestrians swarmed the sidewalks to walk home, or at least find a warm place to spend the night as the temperatures dropped.

Tomoko Suzuki and her elderly mother stood on a crowded downtown corner, unable to get to their 29th-floor condominium because the elevator wasn't working. They unsuccessfully tried to hail a taxi to a relative's house and couldn't find a hotel room.

"We are so cold," said Suzuki. "We really don't know what to do."

A large fire erupted at the Cosmo oil refinery in the city of Ichihara and burned out of control with 100-foot (30-meter) flames whipping into the sky.

"Our initial assessment indicates that there has already been enormous damage," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. "We will make maximum relief effort based on that assessment."

He said the Defense Ministry was sending troops to the hardest-hit region. A utility aircraft and several helicopters were on the way.

Also in Miyagi prefecture, a fire broke out in a turbine building of a nuclear power plant, but it was later extinguished, said Tohoku Electric Power Co.

A reactor area of a nearby plant was leaking water, the company said. But it was unclear if the leak was caused by the tsunami or something else. There were no reports of radioactive leaks at any of Japan's nuclear plants.

Jefferies International Ltd., a global investment banking group, estimated overall losses of about $10 billion.

Hiroshi Sato, a disaster management official in northern Iwate prefecture, said officials were having trouble getting an overall picture of the destruction.

"We don't even know the extent of damage. Roads were badly damaged and cut off as tsunami washed away debris, cars and many other things," he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was magnitude 8.9, the biggest to hit Japan since record-keeping began in the late 1800s and one of the biggest ever recorded in the world.

The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. Several quakes hit the same region in recent days, including one measured at magnitude 7.3 on Wednesday that caused no damage.

A tsunami warning was extended to a number of areas in the Pacific, Southeast Asia and Latin America, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. In the Philippines, authorities ordered an evacuation of coastal communities, but no unusual waves were reported.

Thousands fled homes in Indonesia after officials warned of a tsunami up to 6 feet (2 meters) high, but waves of only 4 inches (10 centimeters) were measured. No big waves came to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, either.

The first waves hit Hawaii about 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT). A tsunami about 7 feet (2.1 meters) high was recorded on Maui and a wave at least 3 feet (a meter) high was recorded on Oahu and Kauai. Officials warned that the waves would continue and could get larger.

Japan's worst previous quake was a magnitude 8.3 temblor in 1923 in Kanto that killed 143,000 people, according to USGS. A 7.2-magnitude quake in Kobe in 1996 killed 6,400 people.

Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 nations. A magnitude-8.8 temblor that shook central Chile in February 2010 also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.

___

Associated Press writers Jay Alabaster, Mari Yamaguchi, Tomoko A. Hosaka and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo; Jaymes Song in Honolulu and Mark Niesse in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake

Another day, another earthquake. Except the Magnitude 8.9 tremor off the coast of Honshu, Japan, will be a standout event for 2011 - perhaps not in terms of the eventual death toll it brings, but certainly in scale.

There are usually only one or two quakes of this size every year. And even for a country such as Japan, which is very familiar with seismic hazards, this is extraordinary.
The history books show there have been seven quakes rated at 8.0 or greater since 1891 in Japan. And with big tremors come big aftershocks.

Following the initial 8.9 event at 1446 local time (0546 GMT), a sequence of major tremors was initiated - six of them within an hour-and-a-quarter that were all bigger than or all equal to last month's quake in Christchurch, New Zealand (6.3). The largest of the aftershocks was a 7.1.
Some of the early video footage to emerge from Japan was dramatic - city workers hanging on to their desks as everything rocked around them and buildings on fire being swept across farmland as tsunami waters washed inland.
The tectonics in this part of the world are, of course, well-understood. It is one of the most seismically active areas on Earth. The country accounts for about 20% of global quakes of Magnitude 6.0 or greater, and seismometers are recording some kind of event every five minutes, on average.
Japan lies on the infamous "Ring of Fire", the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that encircles virtually the entire Pacific Rim.
At this location, the dense rock making up the Pacific Ocean's floor is being pulled down underneath Japan as it moves westwards towards Eurasia. The epicentre was well out to sea - some 130km from the city of Sendai; but at a relatively shallow depth below the seabed - just 24km.
This clearly led to a fair degree of vertical upward movement in the bed as the resultant tsunami were soon hitting shorelines.
The US-run Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said amplitudes of up 7.3m were recorded on the coast of Japan. Even out in the deep ocean, the specialist tsunami warning buoys were recording wave amplitudes of a metre, which is considerable.
This means waves will reach out across the Pacific, towards the Philippines, Hawaii and perhaps even to be recorded on the North and South American landmass.
What is likely to interest seismologists will be the association with a number of very strong foreshocks in recent days.
These began on 9 March with a Magnitude 7.2 event just 40km from Friday's earthquake, and continued with a further three earthquakes greater than Magnitude 6 on the same day.
In terms of public awareness and reaction, these foreshocks could turn out to be quite important because they will have reminded people what they are supposed to do in a big quake to protect themselves.
Remember, the scale used to measure earthquakes is not a simple linear one.
Each step in magnitude equates to a 32 times jump in the release of energy. As a consequence, Friday's 8.9 event was some 250 times more energetic than anything seen on Wednesday this week; and about 1,400 times more energetic than the Great Hanshin, or Kobe, earthquake in 1995 (M 6.8).

refrence:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12710999

Earthquake and Tsunami NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN

Strong earthquakes  hit the Tohoku Region in the afternoon of March 11, triggering several meter high tsunami waves that caused massive destruction in areas along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan, especially in Miyagi, Iwate  and Fukushima Prefectures.

The Japanese archipelago is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet. This is the cause of frequent earthquakes and the presence of many volcanoes and hot springs  across Japan. If earthquakes occur below or close to the ocean, they may trigger tidal waves (tsunami).

The earthquake itself caused scattered fires and destruction across the eastern Tohoku  and eastern Kanto area, but there is no widespread damage in any major city as seen in Kobe in 1995. The tsunami, however, caused extensive damage in coastal areas along the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan.

Effect on transportation

Tokyo's Narita Airport was closed temporarily but can be expected to re-open in the near future. Tokyo's Haneda Airport was re-opened partially a few hours after the earthquake. Sendai Airport was hit by the tsunami and is likely to remain closed for some time to come.

Many shinkansen and train lines in Eastern Japan were stopped and remain out of service or have delays. It would not be surprising if some shinkansen lines in northeastern Japan remained out of service for a couple of days, especially the Tohoku Shinkansen. However, it does not seem that any shinkansen line suffered any major damage. The Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka has already resumed operation.

Effect on trips to Japan

The effect on tourist activities (apart from short term transportation issues) is likely to be rather low. Among major tourist spots, Matsushima lies in the coastal area that got badly hit by tsunami, but no details about eventual damage are available yet. Central Sendai did not suffer widespread damage. There is currently no information on any other major tourist destination affected.

After shocks can be expected to continue for several days in the Tohoku Region.

Overall, however, there is little reason to change or cancel travel plans for Japan unless you were planning to visit the coastal areas of the eastern Tohoku Region.
Hawaii and Guam residents told to leave coastal areas

* Tsunami could wash over some Pacific islands - Red Cross (Adds Guam details, Red Cross warning)

By Suzanne Roig and Jorene Barut

HONOLULU, March 10 (Reuters) - Hawaii ordered evacuations from coastal areas due to the threat of a tidal wave set off by Friday's earthquake in Japan as a tsunami warning was extended to the whole of the Pacific basin, except mainland United States and Canada.

Authorities also ordered evacuation from low-lying areas on the U.S. island territory of Guam in the western Pacific, where residents there were urged to move at least 50 feet (15 meters) above sea level and 100 feet (30 meters) inland.

Tsunami Alert

Tsunami Alert for New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and others. Waves expected over the next few hours, caused by 8.9 earthquake in Japan.