Death Toll Rises In Japan after Earthquake and Tsunami
Earthquake in Japan (hotncurrent.com)
Death toll modifies every hours as new reports come in from northern Japan, where the most devastating earthquake in the history of the country and one of the most terrifying in world’s history hit the Miyagi Prefecture in the north on Friday with a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale.
The earthquake, which had at least 30 aftershocks as intense as at most 7.1-magnitude on the Richter scale caused enormous waves to sweep over rice fields, to drag houses onto highways and to flood towns, prompted the U.S. Weather Service to issue tsunami warnings for 50 countries and territories.
Hundreds of people were reported dead and hundreds more injured or missing, while, according to Kyoto News, tens of thousands were displaced.
There are reports about fires in the port city of Hakodate, a refinery burning in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, and other fires in Myagi Prefecture.
A train was reported derailed in Miyagi, and a dam failing in Fukushima Prefecture, which caused the flooding of about 1,800 houses.
All the nuclear plants in the country triggered an automatic shut down protocol, and no radioactive leak was detected.
The epicenter of the earthquake was about 230 miles from the capital of the country, Tokyo.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that the “enormously powerful” earthquake has caused immense damage over a wide area.
Earthquake in Japan (historiesofthingstocome.blogspot.com)
Recent reports say that a flotilla was formed and about 300 military airplanes are ready to be deployed north to start relief activity. 8,000 troops were sent to assist recovery, and the U.S. troops stationed in Japan were asked to participate in the relief effort.
Latest reports say that 137 people are confirmed to have been killed, and 539 injured, while 351 are reported missing, according to police, and the death toll is expected to go beyond 1,000.
Japanese National Bank promised to keep the economy of the country stable through this devastation.
Google launched a special search engine to help Japanese find the whereabouts of their relatives as the communications in the country are down.
