Japan tsunami

Update 1:30am: Large wave hitting Hawaii again. Maui harbour bouy rising 7ft. Nikkei was down 170 for day, futures are currently down 200.

Update 12:48am: Hawaii has been hit by second wave, water over roads(?), water has receeded out 200ft or so and seems to be rising. Water is moving up the beaches !!

Update 12:41am: There are reports a train has completely disappeared near Sendai

A ship carrying about 100 people was swept away by the huge tsunami that hit Japan on Friday and its fate was unknown, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing Miyagi prefecture police.

The ship was owned by a shipbuilder in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, said Kyodo News.

There is also a passenger train with an unknown number of people aboard which is still unaccounted for in the tsunami-hit part of coastal Japan. Police also claim they have found 200, 300 bodies on the coast of Sendai.

Update 12:34am: Police in Sendai have reportedly found hundreds of bodies. Alaskan island hit by tsunami.

Update 12:18am: Fire at the Fukushima nuclear plant is reported as out, no update on the coolant problem. There currently seems to be little effect at hawaii.

Update 11:32pm: 2000 people living near Fukushima nuclear have been evacuated. So far there is no new news about exactly what is hapenning at the plant itself.

Update 10:42pm: I am seeing warning notices on Sky News that read “Whole towns in northern Japan have been destroyed”, it was obvious from the footage that this was inevitable. There is a report of a tourist ship with 100 people on-board has disappeared.

Update 10:37pm: Hawaiin beach front tourist areas have all been evactuated. All tourists have been told to move to at least the 3rd floors of their hotels. People are bing told to eveacuate or be arrested.

Update 9:53pm: Fukushima nuclear reactor is having problems; the authorities seem to be unable to pump coolant into the reactor as the pumps have failed. They have shut down the reactor but the loss of coolant supply is a “concern” and experts are saying this “shouldn’t happen”.

Update 9:10pm AEST: Ocean waves up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) above normal sea level were detected by deep-ocean gauges near Wake island, Midway and Guam in the North Pacific, said Chip McCreary, a spokesman for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Update: I just found this at earthquake-report I desperately hope it has been mistranslated. As Prince says in the comments Kurihara-shi Tsukidate has 77,000 people.

Estimate:- $100-500 billion – the largest ever economic loss.

The following towns have been severely damaged:-

JMA 7: Completely Destroyed

JMA 6 upper: Very much destroyed

JMA 6 lower: Major damage.

Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Tochige Prefecture and a little bit of Iwate has had major losses!

MIYAGI

FUKUSHIMA

IBARAKI

TOCHIGE

At 2:45pm local time a 8.4 magnitude earthquake hit northern japan. A tsunami warning now extends to Indonesia, Guam, New Zealand, Chile , Peru, Russia , Mexico and Australia.

Abc’s latest report is:

Large areas of Japan’s northern Pacific coast have been swamped by a devastating tsunami, engulfing entire towns following a major 8.9 offshore quake.

The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast, warning of a tsunami of up to six metres.

Towns and farms around Sendai city in northern Japan are being engulfed by a tsunami, and a four-metre wave has swamped parts of Kamaishi on the Pacific coast.

Residents have been ordered to rush to high ground and stay away from the coast as tsunami can strike in several waves.

Japanese television is broadcasting pictures of a wall of water kilometres wide moving its way across the countryside, engulfing everything in its path.

More waves can be seen approaching the coast.

I am currently watching the TV news, cities in Sendai have literally disappeared into the sea. There are many fires burning including a refinery in Chiba prefecture. A wave of 4.5 metres has been reported in many areas, and there are reports of buildings collapsing.

Another story from AP in Japan

Japan was struck by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, triggering a 13-foot tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter.

In various locations along Japan’s coast, TV footage showed severe flooding, with dozens of cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters. A large ship swept away by the tsunami rammed directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, according to footage on public broadcaster NHK.

Officials were trying to assess possible damage from the quake but had no immediate details.

The quake that struck 2:46 p.m. was followed by a series of aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later. The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the strength of the first quake to a magnitude 8.8.

The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan. National broadcaster NHK was warning those near the coast to get to safer ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the U.S. state of Hawaii.

The quake struck at a depth of six miles, about 80 miles off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles northeast of Tokyo.