Thursday, March 10, 2011

Japan tsunami damage follows 8.9 earthquake (Foto Gallery)


Japanese television has shown major tsunami damage in northern Japan, following a strong 8.9-magnitude earthquake.Public broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses and buildings being swept away by the tsunami in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.

Japanese television has shown major tsunami damage in northern Japan, following a strong 8.9-magnitude earthquake.Public broadcaster NHK showed cars, trucks, houses and buildings being swept away by the tsunami in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.
Scores of cars were seen floating in Iwate prefecture harbour, local TV said, while the Tokyo Fire department says many people were injured after a roof caved in during a school graduation ceremony at a hall in east Tokyo.Japan earlier issued its top tsunami warning in response to the major offshore earthquake, which strongly swayed buildings 400 kilometres away in Tokyo and sent people fleeing onto the streets. The quake struck at 2.46pm local time, 130 kilometers off the coast of Sendai and about 382 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, hitting at a depth of 24 kilometers. The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, Russia and the Mariana Islands, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.The quake was initially measured as a magnitude 7.9 but was upgraded. Andrew Stevens, an Australian expat working in central Tokyo, told Fairfax Media the earthquake started small but got "bigger and bigger". "(It) shook maybe 2-3 minutes," he said, via email, adding that his mobile phone network was out.National broadcaster NHK Television showed images of people getting medical treatment and footage of a tsunami engulfing a warehouse in Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture, with cars and trucks submerged. Ships were shown smashing into harbor walls. Tokyo’s Narita airport shut down, Kyodo News reported. Haneda, the capital’s other main airport, was also closed, NHK said. The government has set up an earthquake response team and Minister Naoto Kan returned to his office from parliament to convene his team. Smoke could be seen rising from a building in Tokyo port. Shinkansen bullet trains stopped when the quake struck, while Tokyo port has shut all 19 of its water gates as it prepares for the tsunami. Japan’s Coast Guard is halting ships on their way to entering Tokyo’s port,said Takashi Mifune, spokesman for the Bureau of Port and Harbor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Japan’s meteorological agency said the quake struck at 2.46pm (4.46pm AEDST) local time at a depth of 10km, 125km off the eastern coast. Footage on national broadcaster NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. Police and coast guard officials said they were assessing possible damage from the quake. The yen tumbled against the dollar after the quake, falling to 83.30 against the dollar from 82.81 before the quake struck. Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday. The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no tsunami threat to Australia.

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