Extremely large tsunami slams coastal Japan after 8.9 magnitude quake
The greatest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years hit the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its way, including houses, cars and farm buildings on fire, media and witnesses said.
At least 1 person was murdered in Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo where four million homes were without power. The 8. 9 magnitude quake caused many injury, public broadcaster NHK said, started fires and the wall of water, driving warnings to persons to move to better ground in coastal areas.
The Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia all issued tsunami alerts, refreshing memories of the giant tsunami which struck Asia in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for countries as much away as Colombia and Peru.
There were several powerful aftershocks. In the capital Tokyo, buildings shook violently. An oil refinery near Tokyo was on fire, with dozens of storage tanks under threat.
"I was terrified and I'm still frightened, " said Hidekatsu Hata, 36, manager of a Chinese noodle restaurant in Tokyo's Akasaka area. "I've never encountered such a big quake before. "
TV pictures proved the tsunami taking the debris and fires across a large swathe of coastal farmland near the city of Sendai, which has a human population of one million. The pictures indicated the death toll was going to rise.
Seismologists say the quake was 160 times more powerful than the one that devastated Christchurch last month.
* Wall of water crosses Japan's east coast
* Large parts of Miyagi prefecture engulfed
* Homes flooded, cars and boats washed away
* No leaks of radioactive material from power plants
* BOM says no tsunami warning for Australia
* Contact DFAT on 1300 555 135
NHK showed flames and black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the north of the country were halted.
Black smoke was also putting out of an industrial area in Yokohama's Isogo area. TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks floating in water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern Japan. An overpass, location unknown, showed up to have collapsed into the water.
Kyodo news agency said there were reports of fires in Sendai where waves moved cars across the runway at the airport. The western prefecture of Wakayama ordered 20, 000 people to evacuate after further tsunami warnings.
"The building shook for what appeared 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 most likely the toughest I have experienced since I came to Japan more than 20 years ago. "
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