Friday, March 11, 2011

Tsunami swamps Japan after powerful quake

Large areas of Japan's northern Pacific coast have been swamped by a devastating tsunami, engulfing entire towns following a major 8.9 offshore quake.

The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, warning of a tsunami of up to six metres.

Towns and farms around Sendai city in northern Japan are being engulfed by a tsunami, and a four-metre wave has swamped parts of Kamaishi on the Pacific coast.

Residents have been ordered to rush to high ground and stay away from the coast as tsunami can strike in several waves.

Japanese television is broadcasting pictures of a wall of water kilometres wide moving its way across the countryside, engulfing everything in its path.

More waves can be seen approaching the coast.

"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicentre within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the agency said.

It also put the territories of Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Micronesia and Hawaii under a lower tsunami watch.

The US tsunami monitoring centre has widened a warning to virtually the entire Pacific coast, including Australia and South America.

But the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre says there is no tsunami threat to Australia.

The quake, already considered one of the worst in Japan's history, struck about 382 kilometres north-east of Tokyo at a depth of 24 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

Smoke could be seen rising from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and scores of cars are floating in Iwate prefecture harbour in northern Japan.

A major fire has also broken out at an oil refinery in Chiba prefecture.

Police in Miyagi prefecture have reported numerous injuries. A woman reportedly died in a building collapse in Takahagi, Ibaraki prefecture.

Shinkansen bullet trains stopped when the quake struck, while five nuclear power plants in northern Japan have been shut down.

Power has been cut to four million homes in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

Many people were injured after a roof collapsed at a hall in Tokyo where a graduation ceremony for 600 students was being held, the fire department said.

Narita airport and airstrips in Miyagi prefecture have been closed.

The quake was felt as far away as the Chinese capital of Beijing, 2,500 kilometres to the west, residents said.

Help family, friends

The government has set up a crisis management team at the prime minister's office.

Prime minister Naoto Kan says the government will do everything possible to minimise the damage.

"The government will put its strength together and work hard in tackling this disaster," he said.

"We ask the people of Japan to act fast and to help one's family and neighbours. We should all help each other to minimise the damage."

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is trying to determine whether any Australians have been affected by the earthquake or tsunami.

It says Australians who are worried about friends or family in Japan should first attempt to contact them directly.

The Department says if that does not work they can then ring its consular emergency centre on 1300 555 135.

Japan's northeast Pacific coast, called Sanriku, has suffered from quakes and tsunamis in the past and a 7.2 quake struck on Wednesday.

In 1933 a magnitude 8.1 quake in the area killed more than 3,000 people. Last year fishing facilities were damaged after by a tsunami caused by a strong tremor in Chile.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

Tags: disasters-and-accidents, earthquake, japan

Malaysia Standart Time

http://time.sirim.my/index.php?small=1
1