Daybreak reveals huge devastation in tsunami-hit Japan

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japan confronted devastation  along its northeastern coast today, with fires raging and  parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and  tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.
Daybreak was expected to reveal the full extent of the death  and damage from this morning’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the  10-metre high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages,  sweeping away everything in its path.
In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried  under rubble could be heard calling out “help” and “when are we  going to be rescued”, Kyodo news agency reported.

Houses are swept by water following a tsunami and earthquake in Natori City in northeastern Japan today.  REUTERS/KYODO
Houses are swept by water following a tsunami and earthquake in Natori City in northeastern Japan today. REUTERS/KYODO
Widespread destruction in north-east Japan after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake


The government warned there could be a small radiation leak  from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by  the quake. Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered an evacuation zone  around the plant be expanded to 10 km (6 miles) from 3 km. Some  3,000 people had earlier been moved out of harm’s way.
Underscoring concerns about the Fukushima plant, 240 km (150  miles) north of Tokyo, U.S. officials said Japan had asked for  coolant to avert a rise in the temperature of its nuclear rods,  but ultimately handled the matter on its own. Officials said a  leak was still possible because pressure would have to be  released.
The unfolding natural disaster prompted offers of search and  rescue help from 45 countries.
China said rescuers were ready to help with quake relief  while President Barack Obama told Japanese Prime Minister Naoto  Kan the United States would assist in any way.
“This is likely to be a humanitarian relief operation of  epic proportions,” Japan expert Sheila Smith of the U.S.-based  Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a commentary.
The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a  population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third  of the city was under water, Jiji news agency said on Saturday.
The airport in the city of Sendai, home to one million  people, was on fire, it added.
TV footage from this morning showed a muddy torrent of water  carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland  near Sendai, 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had  been flung onto a harbour wharf, where they lay helplessly on  their side.
Boats, cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in the  water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern  Japan. Kyodo news agency reported that contact had been lost  with four trains in the coastal area.
Japanese politicians pushed for an emergency budget to fund  relief efforts after Kan asked them to “save the country”, Kyodo  news agency reported. Japan is already the most heavily indebted  major economy in the world, meaning any funding efforts would be  closely scrutinised by financial markets.

Cars and containers are swept by a tsunami wave in Miyako port, March 11, 2011. REUTERS/TBS via REUTERS TV
Cars and containers are swept by a tsunami wave in Miyako port, March 11, 2011. REUTERS/TBS via REUTERS TV

Domestic media said the death toll was expected to exceed  1,000, most of whom appeared to have drowned by churning waters.
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.”
Japan has prided itself on its speedy tsunami warning  system, which has been upgraded several times since its  inception in 1952, including after a 7.8 magnitude quake  triggered a 30-metre high wave before a warning was given.
The country has also built countless breakwaters and  floodgates to protect ports and coastal areas, although experts  said they might not have been enough to prevent disasters such  as the one that struck today.
In Tokyo, many residents who had earlier fled swaying  buildings slept in their offices after public transport was shut  down. Many subways in Tokyo later resumed operation but trains  did not run.
“I was unable stay on my feet because of the violent  shaking. The aftershocks gave us no reprieve. Then the tsunamis  came when we tried to run for cover. It was the strongest quake  I experienced,” a woman with a baby on her back told television  in northern Japan.

FIRES ACROSS THE COAST
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.
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 central bank said it would cut short a two-day policy  review scheduled for next week to one day on Monday and promised  to do its utmost to ensure financial market stability.
The disaster occurred as the world’s third-largest economy  had been showing signs of reviving from an economic contraction  in the final quarter of last year. It raised the prospect of  major disruptions for many key businesses and a massive repair  bill running into tens of billions of dollars.
The tsunami alerts revived memories of the giant waves that  struck Asia in 2004.
Warnings were issued for countries to the west of Japan and  across the Pacific as far away as Colombia and Peru, but the  tsunami dissipated as it sped across the ocean and worst fears  in the Americas were not realised.
The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world  in the past century.
“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.
The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was  the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage  from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10  billion.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most  seismically active areas.

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japan confronted devastation  along its northeastern coast today, with fires raging and  parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and  tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.
Daybreak was expected to reveal the full extent of the death  and damage from this morning’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the  10-metre high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages,  sweeping away everything in its path.
In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried  under rubble could be heard calling out “help” and “when are we  going to be rescued”, Kyodo news agency reported.
The government warned there could be a small radiation leak  from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by  the quake. Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered an evacuation zone  around the plant be expanded to 10 km (6 miles) from 3 km. Some  3,000 people had earlier been moved out of harm’s way.
Underscoring concerns about the Fukushima plant, 240 km (150  miles) north of Tokyo, U.S. officials said Japan had asked for  coolant to avert a rise in the temperature of its nuclear rods,  but ultimately handled the matter on its own. Officials said a  leak was still possible because pressure would have to be  released.
The unfolding natural disaster prompted offers of search and  rescue help from 45 countries.
China said rescuers were ready to help with quake relief  while President Barack Obama told Japanese Prime Minister Naoto  Kan the United States would assist in any way.
“This is likely to be a humanitarian relief operation of  epic proportions,” Japan expert Sheila Smith of the U.S.-based  Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a commentary.
The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a  population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third  of the city was under water, Jiji news agency said on Saturday.
The airport in the city of Sendai, home to one million  people, was on fire, it added.
TV footage from this morning showed a muddy torrent of water  carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland  near Sendai, 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had  been flung onto a harbour wharf, where they lay helplessly on  their side.
Boats, cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in the  water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern  Japan. Kyodo news agency reported that contact had been lost  with four trains in the coastal area.
Japanese politicians pushed for an emergency budget to fund  relief efforts after Kan asked them to “save the country”, Kyodo  news agency reported. Japan is already the most heavily indebted  major economy in the world, meaning any funding efforts would be  closely scrutinised by financial markets.
Domestic media said the death toll was expected to exceed  1,000, most of whom appeared to have drowned by churning waters.
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.”
Japan has prided itself on its speedy tsunami warning  system, which has been upgraded several times since its  inception in 1952, including after a 7.8 magnitude quake  triggered a 30-metre high wave before a warning was given.
The country has also built countless breakwaters and  floodgates to protect ports and coastal areas, although experts  said they might not have been enough to prevent disasters such  as the one that struck today.
In Tokyo, many residents who had earlier fled swaying  buildings slept in their offices after public transport was shut  down. Many subways in Tokyo later resumed operation but trains  did not run.
“I was unable stay on my feet because of the violent  shaking. The aftershocks gave us no reprieve. Then the tsunamis  came when we tried to run for cover. It was the strongest quake  I experienced,” a woman with a baby on her back told television  in northern Japan.

FIRES ACROSS THE COAST
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.
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 central bank said it would cut short a two-day policy  review scheduled for next week to one day on Monday and promised  to do its utmost to ensure financial market stability.
The disaster occurred as the world’s third-largest economy  had been showing signs of reviving from an economic contraction  in the final quarter of last year. It raised the prospect of  major disruptions for many key businesses and a massive repair  bill running into tens of billions of dollars.
The tsunami alerts revived memories of the giant waves that  struck Asia in 2004.
Warnings were issued for countries to the west of Japan and  across the Pacific as far away as Colombia and Peru, but the  tsunami dissipated as it sped across the ocean and worst fears  in the Americas were not realised.
The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world  in the past century.
“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.
The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was  the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage  from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10  billion.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most  seismically active areas.

Cars and airplanes swept by a tsunami are pictured among debris at Sendai Airport, northeastern Japan today.  REUTERS/KYODO
Cars and airplanes swept by a tsunami are pictured among debris at Sendai Airport, northeastern Japan today. REUTERS/KYODO