ANGRY

T S U N A M I S, E A RT H QUA K E S

THE WOR LD I S

i n t h e s t a t e s o f C a l i f o r n i a , O r e g o n a n d Wa s h i n g t o n . T h e b i g g e s t w a v e s o f m o r e t h a n 6 - 7 f t ( a b o u t 2 m ) w e r e r e c o r d e d n e a r C a l i f o r n i a s C r e s c e n t C i t y, s a i d t h e P a c i f i c Ts u n a m i Wa r n i n g Centre.A tsunami warning extended across the Pacific to North and South America, where many other coastal regions were evacuated, but the alert was later lifted in most parts, including the Philippines, Australia and China. S T R O N G W AV E S H I T J A PA N S M i y a g i a n d F u k u s h i m a p r e f e c t u r e s , d a m a g i n g d o z e n s o f coastal communities.A 10m wave str uck Sendai, deluging far mland and sweeping cars across t h e a i r p o r t s r u n w a y. F i r e s b r o k e o u t i n t h e c e n t r e o f t h e c i t y. J A PA N S N H K T E L E V I S I O N S H O W E D a m a s s i v e s u r g e o f d e b r i s - f i l l e d w a t e r r e a c h i n g far inland, consuming houses, cars and ships.Motorists could be seen tr ying to speed away from the wall of water. In other developments:
F O U R T R A I N S A R E M I S S I N G A L O N G T H E C OA S T, S AY S J A PA N R A I L WAY S ; A N D A S H I P C A R RY I N G 1 0 0 P E O P L E WA S S W E P T AWAY F I R E H A S E N G U L F E D S W A T H E S O F T H E C O A S T I N M I Y A G I P R E F E C T U R E S K E S E N N U M A C I T Y, O N E T H I R D O F W H I C H I S R E P O R T E D L Y U N D E R WA T E R

&

HURRICANES

JAPAN

Ja p a ns m o s t p o w e r f u l e a r t h q u a k e s i n c e r e cords began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami.
PHOTO BY MORGUEFILE ARTICLE BY SOFIE OLOFSSON

A M A J O R E X P L O S I O N H I T A P E T RO C H E M I C A L P L A N T I N S E N DA I ; F U RT H E R S O U T H A H U G E B L A Z E S W E P T A N O I L R E F I N E R Y I N I C H I H A R A C I T Y, C H I B A P R E F E C T U R E

ARS, SHIPS AND BUILDINGS were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which str uck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of To k y o. A s t a t e o f e m e r g e n c y h a s b e e n d e c l a r e d a t a n u c l e a r p o w e r p l a n t , w h e r e

S O M E 1 , 8 0 0 H O M E S A R E R E P O R T E D T O H AV E B E E N D E S T R O Y E D I N T H E C I T Y O F M I N A M I S O M A , FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE A D A M B U R S T I N N O R T H - E A S T E R N F U K U S H I M A P R E F E C T U R E , S W E E P I N G AWAY H O M E S , K Y O D O NEWS AGENCY REPORTS

pressure has exceeded nor mal levels.Officials say 350 people are dead and about 500 missing, but it is feared the final death toll will be much higher. IN ONE WARD ALONE in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found. The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, said scientists.T housands of people living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate.Japanese nuclear officials said pressure inside a boiling water reactor at the plant was running much higher than normal after the cooling system failed. OFFICIALS SAID THEY MIGHT need to deliberately release some radioactive steam to relieve pressure, but that there would be no health risk. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier said the US Air Force had f lown emerg ency coolant to the site.But US officials later said no coolant had been handed over because the Japanese had decided to h a n d l e t h e s i t u a t i o n t h e m s e l v e s. T h e U N s n u c l e a r a g e n c y s a i d f o u r n u c l e a r p o w e r p l a n t s h a d s h u t d o w n s a f e l y. M e a s u r e d a t 8 . 9 b y t h e U S G e o l o g i c a l S u r v e y, i t s t r u c k a t 1 4 4 6 l o c a l time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.

THE TSUNAMI ROLLED ACROSS the Pacific at 800km/h (500mph) - as fast as a jetl i n e r - b e f o r e h i t t i n g H a w a i i a n d t h e U S We s t C o a s t , b u t t h e r e w e r e n o r e p o r t s o f m a j o r damag e from those regions.T housands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas
PAGE 44 PAGE 45