Japan struck by major Earthquake of magnitude 8.9, Tsunamis
Japanese officials reported at least 60 people are dead and 56 missing, but expected the toll to rise as they struggle to evaluate the damage.
The quake 02:46 local time Friday afternoon at a depth of 10 km over 125 km off the east coast and was followed by at least 19 strong aftershocks.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the first earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 registered, while the U.S. Geological Survey, said he measured a magnitude 8.9 – enough to rank fifth among all earthquakes are recorded in the last 111 years. Most of the aftershocks recorded at 6.0, with a range of 7.1. By comparison, the latest quake, which more than 160 live in New Zealand killed, measured at 6.3.
Prime Minister Naoto Will has appeared on television and urged all Japanese people to remain calm.
“The earthquake caused
considerable damage in many areas in northern Japan,” said May, the people along the 2,100 km to the east coast to call on Japan to a higher level in advance more destructive waves that could reach warn the experts as far away as South America moving Alaska, U.S. west coast and British Columbia.
Several waves, including an estimated 7-feet, sent walls of water filled devastating with boats and buildings of cities and coastal areas of arable land and the airport near the region’s largest city, Sendai.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported that fires probably caused by gas pipe rupture in the crush of tons of waste-filled water, spreading throughout the city.
A fire was also reported in the turbine building of a nuclear power plant in the hard-hit Miyagi prefecture. Tohoku Electric Power Co. said the cause is still under investigation, but there were no reports of damage or leaks.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said an emergency had been declared as a precaution in another nuclear power plant in Fukushima, after it suffered a mechanical failure in the cooling system of the reactor.
“Our initial assessment shows that there is already enormous damage,” the top government spokesman told reporters earlier Friday. “We will maximum relief work on the basis of that assessment.”
Japan’s Defense Ministry has already sent troops into the earthquake affected region, as well as a utility aircraft and several helicopters.
Journalist Chris Johnson said the quake was huge obviously, in the metropolitan region, where NHK reported that 4 million buildings were without power.
“It felt so great as everyone has to wait here in Tokyo. But
in reality it was more than 300 miles away,” Johnson told CTV in a telephone interview from Tokyo.
Although initial reports no major losses in Tokyo, specify train and subway service was halted, stranding millions of rush hour commuters. Service is also disturbed in the city’s two major airports.
More aftershocks hit the same region in northeastern Japan in recent days, including a 7.3-size bump on Wednesday.
Because in the earthquake and volcano exposed region in the Pacific as the “Ring of Fire” is known, Japan is among the countries best prepared for such devastating events.
Nevertheless, said Osama Akiya AP that this one was unusual.
“I have been through many earthquakes, but I’ve never felt anything,” said Akiya, describes his experience as the earthquake shook downtown Tokyo.
Japan’s worst earthquake claimed 143 000 lives when it hit the Kanto in 1923. Magnitude 7.2 temblor that devastated Kobe in 1996 killed 6,400 people.
In a statement released early Friday morning, said Canada’s Foreign Affairs and Trade had no reports of Canadian deaths or injuries in this most recent earthquake.
