The Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea were bracing for possible tsunamis after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast of Japan, sending waves crashing through coastal towns.
The strongest temblor in Japan in at least a century struck at 2:46 p.m. local time 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the coast of Sendai, north of Tokyo. Buildings shook in the capital, and television footage showed a wave of water as high as 10 meters engulfing farmhouses and roads along the coast. Fires broke out in an oil plant and buildings in Tokyo.
Waves traveling as fast as 800 kilometers an hour may be radiating from the epicenter, sparking warnings in countries that lie in their path. The quake is the strongest since a 9.1 magnitude temblor off North Sumatra in Indonesia in December 2004 left about 220,000 people dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean.
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(Bloomberg) Asia on Tsunami Alert After Biggest Quake Since 2004 Rocks Northern Japan
The Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea were bracing for possible tsunamis after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast of Japan, sending waves crashing through coastal towns.
The strongest temblor in Japan in at least a century struck at 2:46 p.m. local time 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the coast of Sendai, north of Tokyo. Buildings shook in the capital, and television footage showed a wave of water as high as 10 meters engulfing farmhouses and roads along the coast. Fires broke out in an oil plant and buildings in Tokyo.
Waves traveling as fast as 800 kilometers an hour may be radiating from the epicenter, sparking warnings in countries that lie in their path. The quake is the strongest since a 9.1 magnitude temblor off North Sumatra in Indonesia in December 2004 left about 220,000 people dead or missing in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean.
Read it all.