BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DESCRIBED as one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Japan in 100 years, an 8.9-magnitude quake struck off that country’s northeastern coast of Honshu and killed hundreds of people.
According to CNN.com, the quake struck around 2:46 p.m. (Japan time) on Friday (Mar. 11) and prompted the US National Weather Service to issue a tsunami warning for at least 50 countries and territories. The online media house also noted that they feared there are more casualties.
Kyodo News International reported that the quake had also sparked fires in at least 80 locations.
The quake was said to have toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath, and that waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers. About four million homes had no power in Tokyo and surrounding areas.
The quake had disrupted rail service and left people stranded in their offices. It also affected air travel and firefighters had successfully battled a fiery blaze at an oil refinery in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled, according to Kyodo, and some 13 000 people were stranded at the Narita Airport and 10 000 at the Haneda Airport.
Yahoo News reported that “a ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control”.
The site stated that the tsunami hit Hawaii hours after the quake and warnings blanketed the Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire US West Coast.
Police said 200 to 300 bodies were found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai and another 88 were confirmed killed and at least 349 were missing. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster.
The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (seven-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many 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 from the epicenter.
"The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference.
