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Tsunami unleashed on Japan
A new day is dawning in Japan after a ferocious tsunami created by one of the largest ever earthquakes ripped through its eastern coast on Friday evening New Zealand time.
Hundreds of people are dead with fears the casualties will grow after the 8.9 quake brought some of Japan’s largest cities to a standstill and a wave then swept away ships, cars and buildings, creating fires and shutting down nuclear plants.
Waves were sent around the Pacific rim washing up on New Zealand’s northern coast line some 12 hours later causing surges and a lift in the water level, but no reports of serious incidents.
The quake, centred offshore to the north east of Tokyo, created a seven metre tsunami was followed by more than 50 aftershocks some than six in magnitude.
Scientists said the quake ranked as the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than one that devastated Christchurch.
Television cameras have captured apocalyptic images of debris-filled waves sweeping over towns and the countryside some with fires burning on them as they rolled inland and then surged in different directions.
As the sun rose in Japan it is clear that tens of thousands of buildings have been destroyed and many people will be lost.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was magnitude 8.9, the biggest to hit Japan since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.
A tsunami warning was issued around the Pacific including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile.
Authorities in New Zealand said the wave would cause a marine threat, but only a minor land threat with early reports saying there was little threat to life.
ends
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