TOKYO (Reuters) - A massive 8.9 magnitude
quake hit northeast Japan on Friday, causing many injuries, fires
and a four-metre (13-ft) tsunami along parts of the country's
coastline, NHK television and witnesses reported.
There were several strong aftershocks and a warning of a
10-metre tsunami following the quake, which also caused buildings
to shake violently in the capital Tokyo.
TV pictures showed a vast wall of water carrying buildings and
debris across a large swathe of coastal farmland.
Public broadcaster NHK showed flames and black smoke billowing
from a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the
north of the country were halted.
Black smoke was also pouring out of an industrial area in
Yokohama's Isogo area. TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks
floating in water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in
northern Japan. An overpass, location unknown, appeared to have
collapsed into the water.
Kyodo news agency said there were reports of fires in the city
of Sendai in the northeast.
"The building shook for what seemed a long time and many people
in the newsroom grabbed their helmets and some got under
their desks," Reuters correspondent Linda Sieg said in
Tokyo.
"It was probably the worst I have felt since I came to Japan
more than 20 years ago."
Passengers on a subway line in Tokyo screamed and grabbed other
passengers' hands. The shaking was so bad it was hard to stand,
said Reuters reporter Mariko Katsumura.
Hundreds of office workers and shoppers spilled into Hitotsugi
street, a shopping street in Akasaka in downtown Tokyo.
Household goods ranging from toilet paper to clingfilm were
flung into the street from outdoor shelves in front of a
drugstore.
Crowds gathered in front of televisions in a shop next to the
drugstore for details. After the shaking from the first quake
subsided, crowds were watching and pointing to construction cranes
on an office building up the street with voices saying, "They're
still shaking!", "Are they going to fall?"
Asagi Machida, 27, a web designer in Tokyo, sprinted from a
coffee shop when the quake hit.
"The images from the New Zealand earthquake are still fresh in
my mind so I was really scared. I couldn't believe such a big
earthquake was happening in Tokyo."
The U.S. Geological Survey earlier verified a magnitude of 7.9
at a depth of 15.1 miles and located the quake 81 miles east of
Sendai, on the main island of Honshu. It later upgraded it to
8.8.
A police car drove down Hitotsugi Street, lights flashing,
announcing through a bullhorn that there was still a danger of
shaking.
The Tokyo stock market extended its losses after the quake was
announced. The central bank said it would do everything to ensure
financial stability.
Japan's northeast Pacific coast, called Sanriku, 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. Last year fishing facilities were damaged after
by a tsunami caused by a strong tremor in Chile.
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.
