Saturday, March 12, 2011
TOKYO (AP)-A powerful tsunami spawned by the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history slammed the eastern coast Friday, sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people as widespread fires burned out of control. Tsunami warnings blanketed the entire Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.Authorities said at least 60 people were killed and 56 are missing. the magnitude 8.9 offshore quake was followed by at least 19 aftershocks, most of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter.a utility company in northeastern Japan reported a fire in a turbine building of nuclear power plant.“the earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan,” Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference.even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions. it unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland.Large fishing boats and other sea vessels rode high waves into the cities, slamming against overpasses. Upturned and partially submerged vehicles were seen bobbing in the water.Waves of muddy waters swept over farmland near the city of Sendai, carrying buildings, some on fire, inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways. Fires spread through a section of the city, public broadcaster NHK reported.the tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing directions and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.“our initial assessment indicates that there has already been enormous damage,” Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said. “we will make maximum relief effort based on that assessment.”he said the Defense Ministry was sending troops to the quake-hit region. a utility aircraft and several helicopters were on the way.a large fire erupted at the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo and was burning out of control with 100-foot (30 meter) -high flames whipping into the sky.in northeastern Japan’s Miyagi prefecture, a fire broke out in a turbine building of a nuclear power plant. Smoke was observed coming out of the building, which is separate from the plant’s reactor, and the cause is under investigation, said Tohoku Electric Power co. the company said.There have been no reports of radioactive leaks or injuries, the company said. Several nuclear plants elsewhere along the coast were also partially shut down, with no reports of leakage.Also from Miyagi prefecture, NHK showed footage of a large ship being swept away and ramming directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city.the U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was a magnitude 8.9, the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s. a tsunami warning was extended to a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations.the quake struck at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the agency said. the area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.in downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. the tremor bent the upper tip of the iconic Tokyo Tower, a 333-meter (1,093-foot) steel structure inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.in central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms. NHK said more than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs.Large numbers of people waited at Tokyo’s Shinjuku station, the world’s busiest train station, for service to resume so they could go home. TV announcers urged workers not to leave their offices to prevent injuries in case of more strong aftershocks.Osamu Akiya, 46, was working in Tokyo at his office in a trading company when the quake hit.it sent bookshelves and computers crashing to the floor, and cracks appeared in the walls.“I’ve been through many earthquakes, but I’ve never felt anything like this,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to get home tonight.”Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. it also showed a glass shelter at a bus stop in Tokyo completely smashed by the quake and a weeping woman nearby being comforted by another woman.Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday.Hiroshi Sato, a disaster management official in northern Iwate prefecture, said officials were having trouble getting an overall picture of the carnage.“we don’t even know the extent of damage. Roads were badly damaged and cut off as tsunami washed away debris, cars and many other things,” he said.Tokyo’s main airport was closed. a large section of the ceiling at the 1-year-old airport at Ibaraki, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, fell to the floor with a powerful crash.Dozens of fires were reported in northern prefectures of Fukushima, Sendai, Iwate and Ibaraki. Collapsed homes and landslides were also reported in Miyagi.Japan’s worst previous quake was in 1923 in Kanto, an 8.3-magnitude temblor that killed 143,000 people, according to USGS. a 7.2-magnitude quake in Kobe city in 1996 killed 6,400 people.Japan lies on the “Ring of Fire”-an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 percent of the world’s quakes occur, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 nations. a magnitude-8.8 temblor that shook central Chile last February also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.***FOR THE RECORDThe world’s strongest earthquakes and tsunamis -March 11, 2011: a magnitude 8.9 quake strikes off the northeast coast of Japan, sending a tsunami across the Pacific and killing a still-undetermined number of people.-October 2010: a volcanic eruption and a tsunami kill more than 500 people in Indonesia.-February 2010: a 8.8 magnitude quake shakes Chile, generating a tsunami and killing 524 people.-September 2009: a magnitude 8.0 earthquake unleashes tsunamis of up to 40 feet (12 meters) and killing 194 people in the South Pacific, including 34 in American Samoa.-September 2007: a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rattles Sumatra island, triggering regional tsunami alerts and damaging scores of buildings.-September 2007: An earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.4 near Sumatra triggers a wave in the coastal city of Padang. the tremor kills at least 25 people and injures around 50.-April 2007: At least 28 people in the Solomon Islands die in a tsunami and earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.1.-July 2006: a magnitude 6.1 earthquake triggers a tsunami off Java island’s southern coast, killing at least 600 people.-March 2005: a magnitude 8.6 quake in northern Sumatra kills about 1,300 people.-December 2004: An Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, kills 230,000 in a dozen countries.-August 1976: a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hits near the islands of Mindanao and Sulu in the Philippines, generating a tsunami and leaving at least 5,000 dead.-March 1964: a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, kills 131 people, including 128 from a tsunami.-May 1960: a magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami kill at least 1,716 people.-November 1952: a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka causes damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves in Hawaii.-August 1950: a magnitude 8.6 earthquake in Assam, Tibet, kills at least 780 people.-April 1946: An earthquake measured at a magnitude of 8.1 near Unimak Islands, Alaska, triggers a tsunami, killing 165 people, mostly in Hawaii.-January 1906: a magnitude 8.8 quake off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia generates a tsunami that kills at least 500 people.-August 1868: a magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile) generates catastrophic tsunamis; more than 25,000 people were killed in South America.-April 1868: a 7.9-magnitude earthquake strikes the Big Island, Hawaii, killing 77 people, including 46 from a tsunami.-November 1755: a magnitude 8.7 quake and ensuing tsunami in Lisbon, Portugal, kill an estimated 60,000 people and destroy much of Lisbon.-July 1730: a magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparasio, Chile, kills at least 3,000 people.-January 1700: a magnitude 9.0 quake shakes present-day Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Colombia and triggers tsunami that damages villages in Japan.Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and WHO’s International Disaster Database/Associated Press
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