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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Huge quake, tsunami kill 1,000 in Japan

Japan reels from a devastating earthquake that triggered 10-metre high tsunami.

TOKYO: A devastating tsunami triggered by the biggest earthquake on record in Japan killed at least 1,000 people along the northeastern coast yesterday after a wall of water swept away everything in its path.

Thousands of residents were evacuated from an area around a nuclear plant north of Tokyo after fears of a radiation leak, but officials said problems with the reactor’s cooling system were not at a critical level.

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered 10-metre (33-feet) high tsunami.

Stunning TV footage showed a muddy torrent of water carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland near the coastal city of Sendai, home to one million people and which lies 300km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had been flung onto a harbour wharf, where they lay helplessly on their side.

Domestic media said the death toll was expected to exceed 1,000, most of whom appeared to have drowned.

The extent of the destruction along a lengthy stretch of coastline suggested the death toll could rise significantly.

Even in a nation accustomed to earthquakes, the devastation was shocking.

“A big area of Sendai city near the coast, is flooded. We are hearing that people who were evacuated are stranded,” said Rie Sugimoto, a reporter for NHK television in Sendai.

“About 140 people, including children, were rushed to an elementary school and are on the rooftop but they are surrounded by water and have nowhere else to go.”

Swaying buildings

The quake, the most powerful since Japan started keeping records 140 years ago, sparked at least 80 fires in cities and towns along the coast, Kyodo said.

Other Japanese nuclear power plants and oil refineries were shut down and one refinery was ablaze. Television footage showed an intense fire in the waterfront area near Sendai. There were also reports that an irrigation dam had broken and swept away houses in Fukushima prefecture.

In Tokyo, residents who had earlier fled swaying buildings jammed the streets trying to make their way home after much of the city’s public transportat was halted.

Many subways in Tokyo later resumed operation but trains did not run. People who decided not to walk home slept in office buildings.

Thousands defied official warnings and walked through the streets to get home, while department stores quickly sold all their bicycles.

The Tokyo city government turned more than 200 schools into overnight shelters. Outside the city, the Yokohama Arena hall housed 1,000 people with blankets, and the Saitama Super Arena also became a mass shelter.

Kanto quake

Auto plants, electronics factories and refineries shut, roads buckled and power to millions of homes and businesses was knocked out. Several airports, including Tokyo’s Narita, were closed and rail services halted. All ports were shut.

The tsunami alerts revived memories of the giant waves which struck Asia in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for countries to the west and across the Pacific as far
away as Colombia and Peru.

The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century.

TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks tossed around like toys in the water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern Japan. An overpass, location unknown, appeared to have collapsed and cars were turning around and speeding away.

“The building shook for what seemed a long time and many people in the newsroom grabbed their helmets and some got under their desks,” Reuters correspondent Linda Sieg said in Tokyo. “It was
probably the worst I have felt since I came to Japan more than 20 years ago.”

The quake surpasses the Great Kanto quake of Sept 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.

- Agencies

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