Japan earthquake: Over 1,000 feared dead, possible radiation leaks
TOKYO (March 12, 2011): More than 1,000 people were feared dead after Japan's strongest earthquake on record triggered a destructive tsunami, the government said Saturday as it expressed concerns over possible radiation leaks from damaged nuclear reactors.
Japan was assessing the damage from Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake and devastating tsunami that rocked the north-eastern part of the country, even as aftershocks continued to hit.
The death toll would probably be well over 1,000, said Yukio Edano, chief cabinet secretary.
Authorities had recovered 420 bodies, with about 1,000 still missing and many injured, Kyodo News agency reported.
The government feared more large-scale aftershocks could add to the destruction, as the Meteorological Agency issued further tsunami warnings for many coastal regions in the country.
The agency said there were more aftershocks than usual, including several over 7 in magnitude.
The Nikkei business daily said some 210,000 people had been evacuated in north-eastern Japan, while thousands were stranded in Miyagi, waiting for assistance, public broadcaster NHK said.
feared dead and authorities warned a meltdown may be under way at a nuclear plant Saturday after a monster tsunami
devastated a swathe of northeastJapan.-- AfpPix
Rescuers have been searching for survivors amid collapsed buildings in many flooded cities.
Japan's Self Defense Force (SDF) troops and other rescue teams were being rushed to north-eastern parts of the country, officials said.
International assistance was on its way, as the United States dispatched more than 140 personnel on Friday, and New Zealand said Saturday it would send a 48-member search-and-rescue team.
The Japanese government has mobilised 50,000 search and rescue workers, and sent 190 aircraft and 25 vessels to areas affected by the quake and tsunami.
The SDF has been working with the US military stationed in Japan to transport about 900 Japanese troops and some 250 vehicles by US ships, Japanese government officials said.
Thousands of houses were devastated, several bridges collapsed, bus and train services were shut down and many roads were closed.
Mobile phone networks and landline phone services were affected by the quake.
Television footage showed flattened fishing villages and shattered cities with piles of rubble on the streets as the tsunami surged 5 kilometres inland in some areas, forcing many to spend the night on the roofs of their houses as temperature dropped to freezing point.
In the city of Rikuzen Takata, one of the worst-hit areas, of the 8,000 houses, some 5,000 were destroyed, news reports said.
The devastating scenes in north-eastern Japan were "similar to what I saw off Sumatra," Minoru Watanabe, a Tokyo-based town planning expert told a TBS television programme, referring to a powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia in December 2004.
Around 1,800 houses in Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture were destroyed, with relief efforts limited to helicopters, as further tsunamis were feared.
More evacuations were ordered early Saturday after the cooling system at a second nuclear power plant broke down in the wake of the massive earthquake.
Residents within 3 kilometres of the Fukushima Daini power plant, also known as Fukushima II, were ordered to leave their homes.
Earlier in the day, authorities extended evacuations to residents living within 10 kilometres of another nearby nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi, also known as Fukushima I, where the cooling system experienced troubles Friday.
Radiation measurements inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were 1,000 times higher than normal, the Kyodo news agency reported early Saturday, citing Japan's nuclear safety agency.
The government was holding an emergency meeting after the premier visited the area, but said no radiation leaks had been detected. --dpa
via thesundaily.com
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