Tsunami Causes Major Damage in Northern Japan After 8.9 Quake

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Tsunami Causes Major Damage in Northern Japan After 8.9 Quake

Tsunami Causes Major Damage in Northern Japan After 8.9 Quake



The Tsunami spawned by the enormous Quake has already reached the Hawaiian Islands and has triggered warning sirens as far away as Oregon.

The Quake hit at 2:46 p.m. local time in Japan, washing away buildings in seconds. At least 19 powerful aftershocks have struck the country, reversing the path of rivers, washing away boats and cars and leaving buildings shaking like jelly.

Japanese officials have found 200 to 300 bodies in a northeastern coastal area of Japan.

The earthquake hit the Northern part of Japan hardest, but could be felt as far inland as Tokyo.

"It started and it lasted a good five minutes, lots of shaking and very scary. I'm on the 11th floor, just down the street from the Tokyo tower," said Randy Castle, an American working in Japan.

The Tokyo tower, a famed landmark in Japan, is now bent.

"It was a lot of swaying, you could hear the building creaking in it ... you could see the shades shaking back and forth," Castle said. "The people that I work with here in Tokyo, it was normal for them, but shortly After that it started to get scary the longer it went."

It's the strongest earthquake the world has seen since the 9.1 magnitude Indian Ocean Quake in 2004 which left 230,000 people dead. It's also the largest earthquake in Japan's recorded history.

"The earthquake has caused Major Damage in broad areas in Northern Japan," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said during an emergency news conference. "Some of the nuclear power plants in the region have automatically shut down, but there as no leakage of radioactive materials to the environment."

Japanese officials have ordered 2,800 people who live around a nuclear plant to evacuate their homes. A state of emergency was declared at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant After it's cooling system failed to work. Radiation has not leaked from the plant, officials said.
"We have to take this very seriously. Every nuclear power plant has two layers of defense, first the brakes, second, you dump cold water on it the emergency cooling system and that apparently has malfunctioned. That's what causing concern," Dr. Michio Kaku, a physicist, said.

"It does not mean we have a a runaway accident, but it is cause for concern because this is not supposed to happen," he said.

Aftershocks, some with a magnitude as great as 7.4, continue to rock the region, sending waves of debris and water through farms, rupturing gas lines that have led to uncontrolled fires and leaving planes and cars looking like toys as walls of debris and water toss them through Japan. There have been reports of boats full of hundreds of people washed away.

At least 80 aftershocks above magnitude 5.0 have been reported and the aftershocks could continue for years, Lucy Jones, a geophysicist from California Institute of Technology, said.

Staff Sgt. David Pearson, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot stationed at Japan's Narita airport, said the Quake has shut down the airport.

"There have been no planes coming in or going out, he said.

Pearson said it was "absolute panic" when the Quake hit.

"I just saw the lockers in the area start violently shaking back and forth. And then judging by the looks on some people's faces I figured out what had happened," he said.

So far, there are no reports of American fatalities in Japan.

"The entire Tokyo metro system is knocked out," Dr. Michio Kaku said. "The airports are out, the phone lines are dead..one relative told me that as she was walking downtown Tokyo, she could see the building sway. Can you imagine walking down Fifth Avenue and seeing the Empire State building sway. That's what you're seeing in Japan."

At least 4 million people are without power and at least 25,000 people are stranded at train stations.

Kaku, a physicist who also has family in Japan, said that the Tsunami struck in the pivotal "Ring of Fire," an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific. The region is where 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur. "They [tsunami waves] travel at jetliner speeds of 500 to 700 miles per hour and the Pacific Ocean is a pond compared to them…it's going to hit the U.S., it's going to hit Hawaii," Kaku said.
Tsunami waves are already reaching Hawaii. There have been reports of fighting at gas stations as people fuel up their cars to move inland.
"We have been hearing those reports and we've asked everybody to stop doing that, to get out of the way and that their hindering the evacuation," Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle said.

At least tens of thousands of people are being evacuated, Carlisle said.

"It's not just a wave, it's a series of waves and no one knows which one will be the strongest, no one knows which one will do the most of Damage and we don't even know how long they will last, they could last for a series of hours," Carlisle said.

From California to Oregon, authorities are also bracing for the possibility of Tsunami waves. California is expected to see waves at around noon eastern time.
"The first thing you need to do is be aware of your situation, turn on the radio or tv and if you're on the coast line, get away from the coast…there's plenty of notice, several hours of warning…either go to high ground or just go to the upper floor of a strong building," Geophysicist Brian Schiro from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of Hawaii said.

Schiro said California could see 6-foot waves. The border of Oregon and California is expected to see most Tsunami waves.

President Barack Obama was awakened by his staff early this morning at around 4 a.m. The President released the following statement:

"Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis. The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial. The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy. We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials as I have instructed FEMA to be ready to assist Hawaii and the rest of the U.S. states and territories that could be affected."


ABC News Radio and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Tsunami Causes Major Damage in Northern Japan After 8>9 Quake

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