Huge tsunami slams Japan, kills 60

TOKYO: The biggest earthquake on record to hit Japan struck the northeastern coast on Friday, calling the 10-meter high tsunami swept everything in its path, including homes, boats, cars and outbuildings.
Red Cross in Geneva said wall of water was higher than some of the islands of the Pacific Ocean and the tsunami warning was issued for nearly all the Pacific Basin, although the warnings were lifted for some countries in the region, including Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.
At least 60 people were killed in the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, broadcaster NHK, adding that many were missing. The degree of destruction along the long stretch of coast of Japan proposed the dead could rise significantly.
8.9 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful since Japan began keeping records 140 years ago, led to numerous injuries and fires caused while a tsunami warning prompted people to move to higher ground in coastal areas.
Domestic news agencies said radoactive leakage managed to plant in Fukushima Prefecture, north of Tokyo, and about 2000 residents were ordered to evacuate the area. Some nuclear power plants and oil refineries were closed, and the plant was in flames.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan told politicians they must "save the country" after the accident, which he said caused considerable damage to areas north of the country.
An earthquake split the highway near Tokyo and flattened several buildings on the north-east and the train ignored in coastal areas affected by the tsunami.
A ship carrying 100 people, were swept away by the tsunami, Kyodo News agency reported, and television showed footage covered waters, blackened debris, some of them on fire, destroying homes, cars and bring in inland navigation.
There were reports of at least 80 seats on the fire after the earthquake, said Kyodo.
Approximately 4.4 million homes were without power in northern Japan, media said. The hotel collapsed in the city of Sendai, and people were afraid of the rubble.
Electronics giant Sony Corp, one of the largest exporters of the country, closed six factories, as air force jets raced toward the north-east coast, to determine the extent of damage.
Bank of Japan, which is struggling to boost the anemic economy, said he would do everything possible to ensure financial market stability, as well as the Japanese yen shares fell.
"I was scared and I'm still scared," said Hidekatsu Hata, 36, manager of the Chinese noodle restaurant in Tokyo, where buildings shook violently. "I've never felt such a big earthquake before."
Philippines and Indonesia issued a tsunami warning, reviving memories of a giant tsunami that struck Asia in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued warnings for the countries to the west and across the Pacific as far away as Columbia and Peru.
The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the last century.
There were several strong aftershocks. In Tokyo, there was no panic. Refinery in the area of ​​the city was in flames, with dozens of tanks under threat.
"People are flooding the streets. It's just unbelievable. Everyone is trying to get home, but I do not see any taxis in the Ginza, where there are usually a lot," said Koji Goto, a 43-year-old Tokyo resident.
Television footage showed muddy wall of water of debris across a large strip of coastal farmland near the city of Sendai, which is a million inhabitants. Ships at a time coastal areas were lifted from the sea into the harbor, where they lay helpless on their side.
Sendai is located 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo and its epicenter in the sea was not far away.
NHK television showed flames and black smoke billowing from the building in Odaiba, Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains in the north were stopped. Thick smoke was also pouring out of the industrial zone in Isogo of Yokohama. Television showed residents of the city ends shaking of buildings, protecting the head in his hands from falling masonry.
Television footage showed the boat, cars and trucks tossed around like toys in the water after a small tsunami Kamaichi city in northern Japan. Overpass, whereabouts unknown, is apparently collapsed, and cars were turning around and accelerating away.
Kyodo said there were reports of fires in Sendai, where the waves are carried by vehicles of the runway at the airport.
"The building shook for what seemed a long time and many people in the editorial grabbed their helmets and some were under the tables," Reuters correspondent said Linda Sieg in Tokyo.
"It was probably the worst I felt like I came to Japan more than 20 years ago."
The U.S. Navy said its ships were independent of the tsunami and were prepared to provide disaster recovery, if necessary. China offered to provide an earthquake.
Earthquake in front of the Tokyo Stock Market closed, pushing the Nikkei up to the end of a five-week low. Nikkei futures in Osaka fell as much as 4.7 percent in reaction to the news.
Disasters and weighed on markets in other countries.
In the Kanto region QUAKE
The earthquake was the largest since records began 140 years ago, according to Japan Meteorological Agency. It surpasses the earthquake in the Kanto region on September 1, 1923, which was the value of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.
In 1995 Kobe earthquake caused $ 100 billion in damage and was the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is estimated at about $ 10 billion.
Passengers on the subway line in Tokyo, shouting, and grabbed the hands of other passengers during an earthquake. Shaking was so bad, it was difficult to stand, "said Reuters reporter Mariko Katsumura.
Hundreds of employees and customers has resulted in Hitotsugi street, commercial street in Akasaka in central Tokyo.
Household goods, ranging from toilet paper to the film have been thrown into the street from the open shelves to the pharmacy.
Crowds gathered around televisions in the store next to the pharmacy for details. After shaking with the first earthquake had subsided, the crowd watched and pointed at the construction cranes in the office building along with the voices saying: "They are still stunning," "Are they dropping?"
Asagi Machida, 27, a web designer in Tokyo, pulled out of the cafe when the earthquake hit.
"Pictures from the earthquake, New Zealand still fresh in my mind so I was really scared. I could not believe such a large earthquake occurs in Tokyo."
north-east Pacific coast of Japan, called the Sanriku affected by the earthquake and tsunamis in the past, and the 7.2 earthquake occurred on Wednesday. In 1933, magnitude 8.1 earthquake in the region killed more than 3000 people.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Countries account for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher.