Massive tsunami hits Japan after earthquake Waves up to 13-foot high engulf the port city of Sendai after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the north east coast of Japan.
7:53AM GMT 11 Mar 2011
For the latest updates on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, follow our live coverage.
A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake has hit the northeast coast of Japan triggering a 13-foot tsunami.
There was also a warning of a 32-foot tsunami following Japan's biggest quake in seven years.
Japan's northeast Pacific coast has suffered from quakes and tsunamis in the past and a 7.2 quake struck on Wednesday. In 1933, a magnitude 8.1 quake in the area killed more than 3,000 people.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
Cars swept away by Japan tsunami In the Japanese port city of Kamaishi, cars and boats are swept away by a huge surge of water following an 8.9 magnitude earthquake.
8:03AM GMT 11 Mar 2011
For the latest updates on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, follow our live coverage.
TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks floating in water after a tsunami hit the town of Kamaishi in northern Japan.
Waves up to 13-foot high engulf the port city of Sendai after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the north east coast of Japan.
Japan's northeast Pacific coast has suffered from quakes and tsunamis in the past and a 7.2 quake struck on Wednesday. In 1933, a magnitude 8.1 quake in the area killed more than 3,000 people.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
Japan earthquake causes oil refinery inferno A huge fire has broken out at an oil refinery in Ichihara following an earthquake in Japan
8:38AM GMT 11 Mar 2011
Local television showed pictures of the blaze in Ichihara, to the east of the capital Tokyo.
Following the earthquake, a tsunami hit at various places along the japanese coast, while a 32-foot tsunami was reported at the port in Sendai, north east Japan.
A tsunami warning was extended to at least 50 nations and territories, as far away as South America.
Footage: NHK television
Japan earthquake and tsunami: live
A huge 8.9-magnitude earthquake has hit the coast of Japan, sending two tsunamis crashing into the city of Sendai. Follow our live coverage here. Japan hit by vast 8.9 earthquake, 10m tsunami • At least eight dead, dozens injured • Toky 'shut down', four million without power • Buildings in Tokyo shook for several minutes • Japanese PM warns of 'major damage' • Nuclear plants shut with 'no material' leaking yet
08.47: The Japan quake is stronger than the one that struck Haiti, CNN has reported.
A man sits wrapped in a blanket after he was evacuated from a building in Tokyo's financial district (Picture: REUTERS)
08.46: The Philippine government on Friday strongly urged residents of its Pacific coast to "go farther inland" amid a tsunami threat following a huge earthquake off Japan, the civil defence office said.
08.43: Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration has begun evacuating some residents from the island's east coast following a tsunami alert issued after a major earthquake in Japan.
08:41: Hawaii has ordered the evacuation of low-lying coastal areas, officials on the US Pacific island state said.
08.40: Australia and its islands and territories are not under threat from a tsunami at this stage after an earthquake rocked Japan earlier today, the Sydney-based Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center said, according to Bloomberg.
08.38: The Japanese government said it was coordinating an emergency and rescue plan on the assumption the quake had caused "tremendous damage".
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government was doing its utmost to rescue victims "on the assumption there has been tremendous damage", AFP reports.
08.37: A Twitter user called Tokyo Reporter has posted on Twitter:
Twitter If you are trying to call people in Tokyo use (03) numbers. Mobile networks still down.
08.35: The tsunami caused by the earthquake in Japan will start to reach coastal areas near Guangdong and Fujian provinces in southeastern China from 8:30 p.m. local time, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Citing the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center it said the tsunami won’t have a significant effect on those regions.
08.33: A tsunami warning has been issued for areas across East Asia and the western coast of South America following a huge earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
Among the countries for which a tsunami warning is in effect are: Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.
By 0800 GMT there had been no reports of a serious tsunami hitting anywhere beyond Japan, Reuters reported.
08.31: The UN in Geneva says at least 30 international search and rescue teams are on "alert", and ready to help in Japan after earthquake, Reuters reports.
Twitter 08.29: Reports that Tokyo Disneyland has been flooded. Here is a twit pic of people waitng to be evacuated.
AFP reports:
The car park at Tokyo Disneyland was drenched with water-logged segments from the ground. It was earlier reported that a tsunami might have caused the inundation but police said the phenomenon was due to liquefaction of soil caused by the intense shaking of the tremor.
There were 69,000 people at the Disneyland and the adjacent Tokyo Disney Sea, built on a landfill in Tokyo Bay, when the quake occurred, a spokesman at the local Urawa police station said.
There were no injuries or property damage reported at the theme parks.
08.25: Japan quake's 8.9 magnitude makes it the 5th-strongest in the world since 1900, says the US Geological society.
08.23: Strong quake aftershock felt in Tokyo, AFP reports.
Video 08.21: Amazing footage has emerged of the quake, with the walls violently shaking after being recorded on video as a family evacuates their Sendai home in Japan.
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08.19: The Australian Science Centre has sent out a couple of expert comments. Kevin McCue is a seismologist and adjunct professor at CQUniversity. He is based in Canberra.
Quote This is the largest earthquake known in Japan. There have been seven earthquakes in Japan over magnitude 8 since 1891.
In 1923 in the great Kanto earthquake which measured 7.9, 147,000 people died so our expectation is that many people will be killed and there will be extensive damage. Fortunately for Tokyo it’s a bit further north than the great Kanto earthquake was, which means the damage in Tokyo is likely to be much less.
A Pacific wide tsunami has been generated, so that will be impacting other countries in the north Pacific in the coming hours.
The wreckage of homes in Kobe, Japan following an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, 1995 (Picture: REUTERS).
Prof James Goff is Co-Director of the Australian Tsunami Research Centre and Natural Hazards Research Lab at the University of NSW:
Quote This Japanese event was considerably larger, only 10 km deep [now revised by the USGS to 24km] and so we should expect a tsunami to have been generated by this.
Not surprisingly warnings and watches are in place. It would highly unlikely for a tsunami to NOT be generated.
Japan has a rigourous earthquake building code and excellent tsunami warning system and evacuation plans - this event will likely provide a severe test for all of them.
08.17: Shares in the German re-insurance giant Munich Re have plunged by 4.93 percent to 111 euros, and Allianz was down by 2.35 percent to 99.6 euros in opening trade following the massive earthquake in Japan.
The DAX index of German blue chips was off by 1.25 percent overall, AFP reports.
The owner of a ceramic shop checks his damaged wares following the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Tokyo, Japan (Picture: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)
08.14: Number of airlines have suspended flights to Japan.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have suspended flights, Bloomberg reports.
Korean Air delayed flights scheduled to depart South Korea after the closure of Tokyo’s two main airports, at Narita and Haneda, due to the earthquake, said Cho Hyong Chul, a spokesman for the airline.
Jason Kim, a spokesman for Asiana, said it was unclear when flights may be able to resume
08.13: The AP is reporting that Philippine officials are ordering an evacuation of coastal communities along the country's eastern seaboard in expectation of a tsunami following a 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan.
Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute director Renato Solidum says the first 3-foot high waves are expected to hit the northernmost Batanes islands by 5 p.m. (09:00 GMT) Friday.
Disaster management officials in Albay province southeast of Manila say they have ordered residents to move to designated evacuation sites that are at least 15 feet (5 meters) above sea level.
08.12: Television pictures shows fierman trying to put out massive fires at oil refineries.
08.10: Japanese spokesman confirms Army have been sent in to affected areas.
08.04: AFP reports that three people are reported killed. The dead included a 67-year-old man crushed by a wall and an elderly woman killed by a fallen roof, both in the wider Tokyo area. Sendai in Japan has been hit by a major tsunami following a huge earthquake off the coast.
07:57 Trains are down in much of Japan, according to various sources. The Telegraph's Julian Ryall emails:
Telegraph We've had a pretty big earthquake here and I'm stuck on a bullet train with the lights out, and a group of rather alarmed Japanese OAPs. Kids walking down the street after being evacuated from their school with earthquake helmets on.
07:55 Prime minister Naoto Kan is on television again. He says that while many nuclear power stations have shut down, there have been no reports of nuclear material escaping, but that it is a concern and they will confirm.
07:53 Huge fire at an oil refinery in Ichihara:
07:46 The US tsunami monitoring center has widened its tsunami warning to virtually the entire Pacific coast, including Australia, South America, Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific, after a massive earthquake in Japan - more via BBC Breaking on Twitter:
Twitter West coast of US and Hawaii placed on #tsunami 'watch'; western Alaskan islands on tsunami 'advisory' after huge #Japan #earthquake
07:42 Some Japanese nuclear power plants and oil refineries have been shut down and a major steel plant is ablaze, according to Reuters.
Al Jazeera grab showing the aftermath of the tsunami in Japan.
07:37 Sky News has shown the Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan talking to the nation, saying that people need to act fast to help each other and to minimise damage.
07:35 Taiwan and Indonesia become the latest country to issue tsunami alerts, according to Reuters and AFP respectively.
07:30 Key points so far, via Reuters:
- Quake triggers tsunami up to 10 metres (30 feet), waves sweep across farmland, sweeping away homes, crops, vehicles, triggering fires. Tsunami warnings up to 10 metres (30 feet)
- Several people buried in landslide. One person reported killed.
- Power cut to four million homes in and around Tokyo
- Many sections of Tohoku expressway serving northern Japan damaged. Major fire at Chiba refinery near Tokyo.
- Bullet trains to the north of the country stopped
- Eight military planes scrambled to survey damage. Prime Minsiter Naoto Kan orders militaty to do utmost to act in response to quake. Cabinet to meet. The government says more tsunami possible.
- Central bank vows to do utmost to ensure financial market stability
- Several nuclear power plants shut down automatically. At least one station operating normally.
07:29 The first death has been reported, in Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture, east of Tokyo, according to AFP.
07:25 Russia's emergency ministry has issued a tsunami warning for the Kuril Island chain, a small group of islands to the north-east of Japan. "A potential tsunami warning is declared" for the Kuril chain that includes four islands claimed by Japan, a spokeswoman for regional emergencies ministry told AFP.
"People are being evacuated," spokeswoman Yekaterina Potvorova said, adding that ships had been ordered to leave ports. 07:22 So far there have been no reports of any deaths, but dozens of people have been reported injured. Trains have been stopped across the country - the Telegraph's own correspondent Julian Ryall is stuck on a bullet train - and there have been fires, while at least one large building in the capital Tokyo, the Kudan Kaikan, has collapsed, with an unknown number of casualties.
07:00 A massive earthquake off the coast of Japan has sent two major tsunamis towards the coast. Harrowing footage of the devastation in the coastal city of Sendai has been shown on Sky News. Follow here for the latest news.
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