The Last 10 days have been the most devastating days in the history of Japan since the US bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the recent 10 days have seen Japan devastated by a very powerful earthquake and then followed by a very strong Tsunami that wiped away acres of the farm land, destroyed cities, washed way cars, ships, houses and highways as toys, leaving a huge number of citizens dead, this natural disaster also damaged the nuclear reactors of the Japan, operating near the costal area, damaging them to such an extent that it became very difficult for the Japanese authorities to control the radiation leakage at the nuclear plant, affecting the survival of the earthquake and tsunami with the possible exposure to the nuclear radiation, the sequence of the natural disaster happening in Japan in last 10 days followed by the impact on the Fukushima nuclear plants makes these as one of the most horrifying and devastating days in the history of Japan. For more news go to http://newsviewsindia.com/
A 9.0-magnitude megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on Friday 11 March 2011.The epicenter was 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the east coast of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku near Sendai, with the hypocenter at a depth of 32 km (19.9 miles).
The earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves of up to 10 meters (33 ft) that struck Japan minutes after the quake, in some cases traveling up to 10 km (6 mi) inland,[10] with smaller waves reaching many other countries after several hours. Tsunami warnings were issued and evacuations ordered along Japan's Pacific coast and at least 20 other countries, including the entire Pacific coast of North America and South America.
The Japanese National Police Agency has officially confirmed 8,199 deaths 2,613 injured, and 12,722 people missing across seventeen prefectures, as well as over 100,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami caused extensive and severe structural damage in Japan, including heavy damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and a dam collapse.Around 4.4 million households in northeastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water.Many electrical generators were taken down, and at least three nuclear reactors suffered explosions due to hydrogen gas that had built up within their outer containment buildings. On 18 March, International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Yukiya Amano described the crisis as "extremely serious." Residents within a 20 km (12 miles) radius of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and a 10 km (6 miles) radius of the Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant were evacuated.
Estimates of the Tōhoku earthquake's magnitude make it the most powerful known earthquake to hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world overall since modern record-keeping began in 1900. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that "in the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan. The earthquake moved Honshu 2.4 m (7.9 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by almost 10 cm (3.9 in).Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion.[22] The Bank of Japan offered ¥15 trillion (US$183 billion) to the banking system on 14 March 2011 in an effort to normalize market conditions.
