On March 11th 2011, a devastating 8.9M earthquake occurred in the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan, about 130 kilometers off the shore of Miyagi Prefecture. This earthquake was the most powerful earthquake recorded in the Japanese history and the most destructive quake after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake.
The shock created a large scale tsunami towards the Honshu Island and caused enormous damages to the northeast coast of Japan. According to the Asahi News, more than 1600 people have died and 1900 are missing in six different prefectures. Thousands of homes were destroyed as cities were flooded and burned, as the results, over ten thousands residents were trapped in the flooded zone and tons of vehicles were brushed onto the street. Four passenger trains containing an unknown number of people disappeared in the coastal region as well as a ship with several crew members. Major oil refineries in these regions were caught on fire and several nuclear power stations in Onagawa, Fukushima and Tōkai were automatically shut down due to the risk of nuclear explosion. Several aftershocks have occurred after the major quake and caused serious damage to Tokyo and its surrounding areas, therefore, train services have been terminated and all flights in Narita International Airport have been cancelled.
As a response to this disaster, the Japanese government sent the Self-Defense Forces to help the rescue operation in those earthquake zones and the United States government stated that they would send two aircraft carriers to Japan for this operation. Other countries also responded to this incident by sending relief supplies and donations.
A tsunami alert has been raised to all islands in Southeast Asia and Pacific Ocean as well as the west coasts of North & South America. In addition, a ten centimetres water rise has been reported in Hawaii and the west coast of Vancouver Island in BC, Canada.
Sendai Airport FloodedUpdates: Fukushima I Nuclear Power Station just exploded and Fukushima II is at high risk of explosion. The government has evacuated all the residents within the affected areas.
Updates: Fukushima II exploded and all of Pacific regions are under the threat of the nuclear radiation.
Updates: Fukushima II exploded and all of Pacific regions are under the threat of the nuclear radiation.
