Tsunami causes major damage after 8.8-magnitude quake strikes off the northeastern coast of the country.
(March 11, Tokyo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A massive 8.8 magnitude quake has hit northeast Japan, causing a four-metre tsunami along parts of the country's
coastline.
NHK television reported many injuries and showed pictures of major tsunami damage in the north, with cars, trucks, houses being swept away in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.
Many people were injured after a roof caved in during a school graduation ceremony at a hall in east Tokyo, the fire department in the capital said, after the quake hit on Friday.
The quake shook buildings in Tokyo for several minutes and sent people out onto the streets.
The news agency AFP said multiple injuries, but no immediate deaths, were reported from the Pacific coastal area of Miyagi on the main Honshu island.
Japan's NHK television showed black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a suburb of Tokyo.
Tremors were felt as far away as in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
The country's meteorological agency warned that a tsunami as high as six metres could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicentre.
Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas are all being warned to expect a tidal wave as high as six metres.
Yukiko Shimahara, a Japanese journalist, told Al Jazeera that the airports and trains in Tokyo have been shut down following the quake.
Friday's quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the meteorological agency said.
Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire"- an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 per cent of the world's quakes occur.
Several earthquakes have hit the region in recent days, including a 7.2-magnitude quake on Wednesday.
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| Hotel employees gather at the hotel's entrance in Tokyo, Japan as an earthquake hits Friday, March 11, 2011. Japan was struck by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, triggering a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter. -AP |
coastline.
NHK television reported many injuries and showed pictures of major tsunami damage in the north, with cars, trucks, houses being swept away in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.
Many people were injured after a roof caved in during a school graduation ceremony at a hall in east Tokyo, the fire department in the capital said, after the quake hit on Friday.
The quake shook buildings in Tokyo for several minutes and sent people out onto the streets.
The news agency AFP said multiple injuries, but no immediate deaths, were reported from the Pacific coastal area of Miyagi on the main Honshu island.
Japan's NHK television showed black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a suburb of Tokyo.
Tremors were felt as far away as in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
The country's meteorological agency warned that a tsunami as high as six metres could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicentre.
Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas are all being warned to expect a tidal wave as high as six metres.
Yukiko Shimahara, a Japanese journalist, told Al Jazeera that the airports and trains in Tokyo have been shut down following the quake.
Friday's quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the meteorological agency said.
Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire"- an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 per cent of the world's quakes occur.
Several earthquakes have hit the region in recent days, including a 7.2-magnitude quake on Wednesday.
VIDEO COURTESY FROM THE NEWS X, DELHI
Source:Agencies
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