Posts
Tokyo: A ferocious tsunami spawned by the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Japan (and the fifth worst in the world since 1900) slammed the country's eastern coast on Friday, killing hundreds—Kyodo says the toll could cross thousands— sweeping away houses, boats and cars across cities and farmlands. Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii and set off warnings as far away as the west coast of the US and South America.
Japanese police officials said the toll was at least 1,000 with 300 bodies found in Sendai, a port city in northeastern Japan and the closest large population to the epicentre. The full extent of injuries weren't known and the toll is feared to rise substantially.
Walls of water whisked away houses and cars in central Japan, where terrified residents fled the coast. Train services were shut down across central and northern Japan, including Tokyo, and air travel was severely disrupted. A ship carrying over 100 people was swept away by the tsunami, Kyodo News reported.
Even for a country used to quakes, this one was horrific because of the tsunami that swallowed everything in its path as it surged several kilometres inland before retreating. The apocalyptic images of surging water and uncontrolled conflagrations broadcast by Japanese TV resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie. The government evacuated thousands of residents near a nuclear plant about 250 km northeast of Tokyo after a backup generator failed.
The US Geological Survey said the quake measured a magnitude of 8.9, making it the most severe since an 8.8 quake off the coast of Chile a little more than a year ago. It was less powerful than the 9.1-magnitude quake that struck off Sumatra in late 2004, which triggered a tsunami that killed more than 300,000 people, including many on India's east coast.
''This tremor was unlike any I've experienced previously, and I've lived here for eight years,'' said Matt Alt, an American writer living in Tokyo. ''It was a sustained rolling that made it impossible to stand, almost like vertigo.'' Dozens of aftershocks have been felt in the hours after the quake, some of them of magnitude 6.0 or greater, strong enough to do significant damage on their own. A second major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude was reported as aftershocks shook the region. Japanese media reported mobile phone networks were not working.
TV showed waves of more than 12-feet high roaring inland in Japan. The tsunami drew a line of white fury across the ocean, heading toward the shoreline. Cars and trucks were still moving on highways as the water rushed toward them.
The floodwaters, thick with floating debris shoved inland, pushed aside heavy trucks as if they were toys, in some places carrying blazing buildings toward factories, fields, highways, bridges and homes.
FIFTH WORST QUAKE
Hit at 2.46pm local time (11.16 am IST) at 24km below sea level. Centred off coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island
COUNTRY ON BLINK
Power, train services off in Tokyo, Narita airport shuts down temporarily, phones on blink
TSUNAMI ALERT
In 50 countries, including US, (Hawaii & west coast), Peru, Mexico, Chile, NZ, Australia, Philippines, S Korea
TRAIN, SHIP MISSING
A train with unknown number of passengers missing, ship carrying 100 people swept away
Japanese police officials said the toll was at least 1,000 with 300 bodies found in Sendai, a port city in northeastern Japan and the closest large population to the epicentre. The full extent of injuries weren't known and the toll is feared to rise substantially.
Walls of water whisked away houses and cars in central Japan, where terrified residents fled the coast. Train services were shut down across central and northern Japan, including Tokyo, and air travel was severely disrupted. A ship carrying over 100 people was swept away by the tsunami, Kyodo News reported.
Even for a country used to quakes, this one was horrific because of the tsunami that swallowed everything in its path as it surged several kilometres inland before retreating. The apocalyptic images of surging water and uncontrolled conflagrations broadcast by Japanese TV resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie. The government evacuated thousands of residents near a nuclear plant about 250 km northeast of Tokyo after a backup generator failed.
The US Geological Survey said the quake measured a magnitude of 8.9, making it the most severe since an 8.8 quake off the coast of Chile a little more than a year ago. It was less powerful than the 9.1-magnitude quake that struck off Sumatra in late 2004, which triggered a tsunami that killed more than 300,000 people, including many on India's east coast.
''This tremor was unlike any I've experienced previously, and I've lived here for eight years,'' said Matt Alt, an American writer living in Tokyo. ''It was a sustained rolling that made it impossible to stand, almost like vertigo.'' Dozens of aftershocks have been felt in the hours after the quake, some of them of magnitude 6.0 or greater, strong enough to do significant damage on their own. A second major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude was reported as aftershocks shook the region. Japanese media reported mobile phone networks were not working.
TV showed waves of more than 12-feet high roaring inland in Japan. The tsunami drew a line of white fury across the ocean, heading toward the shoreline. Cars and trucks were still moving on highways as the water rushed toward them.
The floodwaters, thick with floating debris shoved inland, pushed aside heavy trucks as if they were toys, in some places carrying blazing buildings toward factories, fields, highways, bridges and homes.
FIFTH WORST QUAKE
Hit at 2.46pm local time (11.16 am IST) at 24km below sea level. Centred off coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island
COUNTRY ON BLINK
Power, train services off in Tokyo, Narita airport shuts down temporarily, phones on blink
TSUNAMI ALERT
In 50 countries, including US, (Hawaii & west coast), Peru, Mexico, Chile, NZ, Australia, Philippines, S Korea
TRAIN, SHIP MISSING
A train with unknown number of passengers missing, ship carrying 100 people swept away
FIRE ON WATER: Houses swept out to sea burn near northeast Japan's Natori city
0 comments:
Post a Comment