Tsunami-hit Japan - At least 427 are being killed - Confirmed but likely to rise over 1000 !

Twin disasters overwhelm Japan - Video - All Jazeera


At least 427 are confirmed to have been killed after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Japan, triggering a devastating 10-metre-high tsunami along parts of the country's northeastern coastline and triggered an emergency at two nuclear power plants as well.


Japanese media said on Saturday the death toll was expected to exceed 1000, most of whom appeared to have drowned by churning waters.


"The damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data," a Japanese official at the national police agency said.


The towering wall of water, generated by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake, pulverised the northeastern city of Sendai, where police on Friday reportedly said that 200-300 bodies had been found on the coast. 


The wave of black water sent shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through the streets of Sendai and across open farmland, while a tidal wave of debris-littered mud destroyed everything in its path.


The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third of the city was under water, according to Jiji news agency .


Radiation fears - Reactor cooling systems had failed !
- but no immediate health hazard -




Japanese authorities scrambled on Saturday to prevent nuclear accidents at two atomic plants where Japanese authorities scrambled on Saturday to prevent nuclear accidents at two atomic plants where reactor cooling systems failed, as it evacuated tens of thousands of residents.


Radiation 1,000 times above normal was detected in the control room of one plant, although authorities said levels outside the facility's gates were only eight times above normal, spelling "no immediate health hazard".


The two nuclear plants affected are the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants, both located about 250 kilometres  northeast of greater Tokyo.


A total of 45,000 people living within a 10-kilometre radius of the No. 1 plant were told to evacuate -- raising the number from the fewer than 6,000 people within three kilometres told to leave Friday.


Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan early on Saturday morning left on a helicopter ride to Fukushima to assess the situation at the plants operated by Tokyo Electric Power, and at other areas in the disaster zone.


When Friday's massive quake hit, the plants immediately shut down, along with others in quake-hit parts of Japan, as they are designed to do -- but the No. 1 plant's cooling system failed, the government said.


When reactors shut down, cooling systems must kick in to bring down the very high temperatures. These systems are powered by either the external electricity grid, backup generators or batteries.


This is key to prevent a "nuclear meltdown" and radioactive release.Japan's network of advanced nuclear power plants are designed to shut down as soon as the earth shakes in one of the world's most quake-prone countries, though a fire broke out in the turbine building of another nuclear plant in Onagawa., as it evacuated tens of thousands of residents.


Radiation 1,000 times above normal was detected in the control room of one plant, although authorities said levels outside the facility's gates were only eight times above normal, spelling "no immediate health hazard".


The two nuclear plants affected are the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants, both located about 250 kilometres  northeast of greater Tokyo.


A total of 45,000 people living within a 10-kilometre radius of the No. 1 plant were told to evacuate -- raising the number from the fewer than 6,000 people within three kilometres told to leave Friday.


Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan early on Saturday morning left on a helicopter ride to Fukushima to assess the situation at the plants operated by Tokyo Electric Power, and at other areas in the disaster zone.


When Friday's massive quake hit, the plants immediately shut down, along with others in quake-hit parts of Japan, as they are designed to do -- but the No. 1 plant's cooling system failed, the government said.


When reactors shut down, cooling systems must kick in to bring down the very high temperatures. These systems are powered by either the external electricity grid, backup generators or batteries.


This is key to prevent a "nuclear meltdown" and radioactive release.Japan's network of advanced nuclear power plants are designed to shut down as soon as the earth shakes in one of the world's most quake-prone countries, though a fire broke out in the turbine building of another nuclear plant in Onagawa.