Major earthquake then tsunami hit Japan

RT -

Northeastern Japan has been hit by a four-meter tsunami, thought to have been caused by an earthquake which struck about 400km (250 miles) from Tokyo and measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale. At least 41 people are reported dead.

The numbers are expected to rise. Reports also say 200 people were washed away, with several others missing in the city of Sendai.

Japan's meteorological agency says the quake hit at 2:46 pm local time.

There are about 50 fires blazing along the coastline and 4 million homes have been left without power. There is widespread damage in the country's north-east.

Communication links are paralyzed, making it difficult to confirm levels of damage or injuries. 

Eye-witnesses have been posting their accounts via Twitter. User japanreports wrote: “People are running out into the traffic, there are some who died under the wheels…. There are fires in Tokyo. And in every place where there were quake shocks. Oil and gas depots are ablaze, the fire is 30 meters high.”

“The tremors lasted a total of three hours with interruptions,” wrote user MIG222K. “Helicopters are flying everywhere.”

The worst-affected prefectures in Japan, hit by waves as high as 10 meters, are Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba. In northern Japan, water is surging inland in Sendai, some 350km (217 miles) north of Tokyo.

People are being evacuated to higher ground with officials predicting more waves of up to 10 meters high.

Video from national broadcasts shows buildings, cars and even ships being swept away and several oil refinery facilities ablaze along the coastline.

Authorities have declared a state of emergency at a nuclear power plant after its cooling system failed. However, there was no radiation leak, officials said.

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