Hours after the buildings stopped shaking, fires still burned and Tokyo remained largely paralyzed with phone and train service halted on Friday. Eerily, fires burned in the watery mess as it flowed along.Įntire villages were swept away and four bullet trains with an unknown number of people onboard lost contact with rail operators Friday, according to the Kyodo News Agency. ![]() ![]() It triggered a tsunami that unleashed a menacing stew of debris with objects as large as ships, cars and houses coursing over the countryside and into towns, crushing buildings and everything in its path. The earthquake, the fifth largest in recorded history and the largest ever to hit Japan, struck about 2:46 p.m. Five million households lack electricity. There are 200,000 people living in temporary shelters after being evacuated to higher ground and more than 1 million households are without water. Tsunami survivors were plucked by helicopters and from rooftops, but hundreds more along the 1,300-mile stretch of coastline are waiting to be rescued. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he dispatched 50,000 troops for recovery efforts as powerful aftershocks continue to rattle the region. Meanwhile, Japanese authorities are racing to rescue those trapped in the rubble after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami left hundreds dead and a nuclear reactor on the verge of a possible of meltdown. Japanese authorities say they have plans to distribute iodine to residents in the area around both the Fukushima Daiichi and nearby Fukushima Daini plants. Three evacuees have been exposed to radiation, but have not shown signs of illness, a disaster official told The Associated Press.
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