in tokyo. you know, we felt some swaying in the beginning and it got stronger and stronger and lasted quite a long time. we know right now it has triggered a 13-foot tsunami. we are looking at incredible video coming in from nhk, the public broadcaster out here. homes have been swept away by these waves. you know, you can imagine with these images just how bad the damage will be once that water recedes. >> we're also seeing a lot of flames. from your vantage point at that abc building there, are you seeing any fires? >> reporter: we are not seeing any from our vantage point but we have been watching all the footage coming through japanese media reports. nhk has not confirmed at least these are a direct result of the quake. we're trying to confirm that ourselves. again, we felt quite a bit of shaking here. so, we've got to confirm that. i imagine, you know, quite a significant amount of damage even far away from the epicenter. >> akiko, can you tell us anything about the area that we're watching

and north of tokyo. and you can just tell this is -- this is something very, very strong for them and they've been in japan for many, many years. guys. >> george, let you continue to communicate with your friends there, so we new information you're going to get out of there. let's go back to bill ellsworth from the usgs. he's with us on the phone right now. bill, you've heard some these reports, we're also hearing on cnn, some people saying that this earthquake may have lasted even a few minutes. what can you tell us about that. >> caller: well, of this quake of magnitude we would expect this to happen. the largest earthquake that has hit japan for at least a century. so it is a very major event. and unfortunately it has affected a very significant part of the industrialized coastline. your reporter mentioned sendi city which is one of the major cities in northern japan. there will be major damage ands. >> bill, thank you very much again for helping us understand all this. i just wanted to put some persp

i really wanted to stay in tokyo. my home here is now -- here now. wanted to stay and just kind of gut it out. things are progressing in a manner, it just seemed prudent to leave now. >> even though tokyo is 100 miles away, the disaster has caused enough fear for residents. chris is going to talk osaka his temporary home. >> we packed for the midterm, but no telling how long it will be. >> now living here in tokyo and for a while, i guess will be a temporary home in osaka. the japanese are really sensitive when it comes to nuclear issues and though this country receives a large part of its power from nuclear reactors, many japanese remember the atomic bombings and because of that, they are extra sensitive to this situation. >> george, you bring up a good point. what are your plans? ? we are hearing that journalists are also leaving. how long do you plan on staying? >> we'll be leaving with them. we have a flight out of here later this afternoon. after we do some, a little more stories here this morning. we -- for me, l.a. back bay area. i should be h

and the shaking in tokyo was very violent. there have been reports of we saw pictures earlier of fires in some buildings. condominium tower. the cars i mention again there cars tossed into the water as a result of this tsunami. >> we did see a large parking structure in the area and approximately tsunami pushed through it looks like it just swept a lieutenant of the cars along with it as well. >> what happened is the tsunami just roared over embankment in the st where i these pictures are taken. washing cars, houses, farm equipment inland before rae versusing direction and carrying them back out to sea. flames seen from some houses. probably because gas pipe bursting and then there is also here an oil refinery ri on fire so officials will i'm sorry it's in another city where the oil refinery is on fire. so l emergency crew have a lot to dweel in various parts of northern japan as they try to get a handle on exactly how the damage is. the only encouraging thing watch the water as it moves forward over the farm land is that this

now that area again is 240 miles northeast of tokyo. in the city of tokyo, all trains in. we see a madsive fire burning in the area right now. we don't know specifically what is on fire, but that does look like perhaps a refinery or some kind of storage area for chemicals. it's hard to tell right now, but clearly a devastating scene unfolding in japan at this hour. >> this video is incredible. the interesting thing is about japan, that country has built its buildings exceptionally well. what we are seeing now is damage from the tsunami and not necessarily the earthquake itself. we have to keep that in mind. >> that's an island nation surrounded by water, so it didn't take long for the tsunami to hit the land there. we want to go to nhk. their english version and let you listen in for a minute. >> several fires have broken out in tokyo as well. the fire department says fires have been reported in several places, including adiake in central tokyo. that is the area where it has been reclaimed land along the coastal areas. right now you are seeing fire breaking out at an oil r

i have a special connection with tokyo. my wife grew up in tokyo. we get nhk. she tells me it's not only the tokyo subway that shut down but the jr which is our amtrak. it's a lot faster however. and the people take the jr from different regions of japan. she says that is shut down well north of tokyo to a place called tokie that is near cindie. have not heard yet from her parents. the phone lines in tokyo are spotty right now. the phone lines are spotty because the government is only using the hard line for the hard wire for emergency services. now 30 feet waves. more than 30 dozen people dead in japan. the same waves but a lot smaller are expected to hit hawaii in less than an hour. probably 30 minutes from now. in our coast less than three hours. >> the question is how big it will be when it gets here. it could be less than a foot tall. people out on the beach might not be able to observe it. >> reporter: tsunamis are created by vertical shifts in tech tonic plates. one goes up and one goes down. on the west coast here the plates move laterally. what happens

you can imagine the panic that must have gone through tokyo, north of tokyo, sendai, the epicenter of the earthquake, and that tsunami. these cars, it looks like something, seriously, out of a disaster movie. but it is, of course, no movie. coming up we're going to talk about the science behind earthquakes. a seismologist at columbia university will tell us what exactly causes the earth to move like that. >> plus we're going to talk about why that particular area of the world is at such a high risk for quakes. it's in what's known as the ring of fire. the building codes there, well, they may have actually saved thousands of lives there. accustomed to this type of thing occurring in that part of the world, and as a result they are more prepared for it than really anywhere else. >> building codes there the most strict in the world. you can see the video of the skyscrapers moving back and forth. there's a reason for,,,, >> so, ah, your seat good? got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and le

keep in mind that tokyo is hours away from the epicenter. 60 people injured in tokyo. we're not getting numbers out of northern japan where the epicenter was. but the numbers expected to be much larger there. 44 fires recorded in 6 prefectures in japan. and the images, just incredible. we just saw, as we were tracking our partner, nhk, out here, video out of sendai airport. that's a major city near the epicenter. the waves, water, just flooded out there. and tsunami warnings in effect throughout that region. >> akiko, in addition to being our abc correspondent. you lived through this earthquake. you were there at work. this happened in the middle of a work day, on friday afternoon. hitting at 2:36 on friday afternoon. tell us as a firsthand account of living through it what happened. >> reporter: you get a lot of earthquakes out here. you tend to ignore them. i was sitting at my dessing. felt a little shaking but didn't think anything of it. it got stronger and stronger. it lasted quite a long time. and i started to see tapes there starting to fall. and at that point,

a huge fire at an oil refinery near tokyo continues to burn. at least 80 other massive fires are still burning along the coastline after the quake cut off gas lines, causing a series of explosions, leaving homes and businesses ablaze. power is out throughout parts of the country, and mass transit is down. in some places trains derailed. tonight, evacuations are under way for miles around this nuclear power plant in fukushima. officials say the cooling system failed during the jolt. authorities now say that radiation levels have surged outside the plant. with daybreak here, the search for dead and injured of this disaster is just beginning. not to mention the cleanup which will likely take months, if not years. although most of the public transportation here in the capital, tokyo, has resumed this morning, transportation communication to the northeast region has been sporadic. public broadcaster nhk reporting at least more than a thousand people have been either dead or missing, and the toll continues to mount. brian. >> kaori enjoji on again wh

the tremors were felt in the parliament in tokyo. the prime minister spoke to the nation almost immediately. >> this was a very strong earthquake. this was over a wide area and it has been afflicted. i offer my deepest sympathy to the people who have suffered the disaster. >> damage to the japanese infrastructure gives more cause for concern. east of tokyo, this oil refinery caught fire and blazed out of control threatening to spread to residential suburbs. thousands of people had to be moved. what has happened to the country's nuclear industry? four of the 11 nuclear reactors were shut down automatically. the u.s. navy delivered coolants to one plant to prevent overheating. japan's transport infrastructure has and places been devastated, main roads ripped up, railway places -- railway lines diverted. passengers took refuge on the roof. in tokyo, people crowded into bus stations for buses that were going nowhere. the tokyo correspondent witnessed the frustration of stranded passengers. >> there is a huge line stretching down into the

that's the latest live from tokyo. george kiriyama. back for you. >> george, yesterday, you were telling us about how many aftershocks you felt and you are actually on the air when one of them hit during one of your reports. are you still seeing that many aftershocks, and are they still that powerful? >> reporter: we have not felt any aftershocks -- well, the last aftershock we felt was early this morning, but since then maybe it could be out and about, but as far as we know we've not heard of any other aftershocks here in tokyo today and that's probably a sigh of relief for people here in tokyo, but now they are dealing with this possible threat of a radioactive cloud and radiation in the air. >> is the mood -- are people frightened or trying to go about their lives or are they confused? >> if you saw the people leaving at the train situation, they are concerned, and we -- we captured that, and you saw that and heard that. you know, people are concerned for their children and their pets, many bringing the pets, an indication that they

a tokyo metropolitan government advised people in central and western parts of tokyo that infants should not drink tap water and that it should not be added to powdered milk. but on thursday morning, the level of iodine, 131 decreased to 79 becquerels peer liter, lower than the 100 safety standard for babies. >>> translator: numbers can always fluctuate but there is no problem with temporarily higher levels if they stay within the legal limits. we will continue to make publicly available the results of the water testing. so i urge the public to stay calm. >> tokyo metropolitan government will gather 240,000 bottles of water to families as some are worried about the health of their babies. radioactive material has been detected in five other prefectures around the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. iodine 131 has been detected at in a substance that is not found nature. they believe it was carried by the wind from the plant to surrounding areas and then washed down in to the area by rain. >> 110 or 20 days the radioactive materials will go to the ocean so much of it will be out of the

the tokyo metropolitan office says tt eyilprid 240,000 bottles of 550 milliliter water bottles. th23ar itokyo and the five cities in tama district will receive the 240,000 soft water bottles or the bottled soft waters especially for families with babies under 12 mohsbumoerwi children who are older than 12 months are also worried. michie kaei has a 2-year-old son and lives in setagaya ward of too. yesterday she used mineral water instead of tap water for cooking miso soup. she needs the correct information more than anything else. i am breast feeding hi >>ndhe vy rrd the effect of the breast feeding because when the mother intakes the tap water, then she is very worried that this may affect the breast feeding and she says that the information is lacking, and the similar level of radioactive substance was detected in ibaraki prefecture at the water purification facility at hikachi oda and also tokaimura, found that the tap water contaminated with the radioactivity. shukyama?saki analyzes the tap water substance on human health. >> what will be the influence on the children and adu

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we're now listening in on the news conference of japan's chief cabinet secretary yukio edano. he'll be giving ugs the latest developments at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. >> translator: reportedly iaea suggested the japanese government issue an evacuation order. what do you say? >> translator: yes, the iaea has been conducting a soil survey, and one of the sample readings have exceeded iaea recommended leve levels, and it's been advised to the japanese government that we should take careful decisions based on these sampling results, and they will -- we have been continuing the atmospheric radiation surveys near the site and the iaea sampling results will also be taken into consideration for further detailed monitoring on the part of the japanese government. and as to the radiation levels in soil, this has exceeded the recommended limits. if the health hazard can develop to humans who stay near the site for prolonged periods of time, but there is no immediate health hazard

he joins us from tokyo via skype. residents and journalists are now leaving tokyo. is there any sense of panic there? >> reporter: i would say a sense of urgency is the best way to describe it. not a sense of panic. when i looked outside the 18th floor window here and looked down, you can see people are going about your business. but you can definitely feel there's a sense of urgency when we're out and about early this morning, late last night. you can see that there is concern, there is worry, and in some cases, there is fear. i don't think there is a sense of panic. you know, people are lining up at the train stations. we were at a tokyo train conversation last night. we were at a tokyo train station, people trying to get to other parts of japan. there is a definite fear and concern over radiation levels in this city. even though they're considered not a health risk at that time. that's what we're hearing from, from the japanese government. we met one san francisco man who going to work out of an osaka hotel 320 miles to west instead of here in tokyo. when mitch l

this is 20 miles from downtown tokyo. a gas line ruptured, igniting this refinery and it is burning out of control. >> all of this started about 2:45 in the afternoon, japanese time with a magnitude 8.9 earthquake slam into the northeastern coast and unleashed a 13-foot tsunami. we have seen the pictures that literally swept both cars -- boats, car, buildings, debris and pushed it inland. >> as we begin to wrap up here for the moment, we want to let you know that we know of at least 21 deaths that have been conif you remembered in japan. that -- confirmedfirmed in japa. the damage, according to some japanese officials is much worse than they expected. some estimates could be upwards of $100 billion. but it will be extensive. so this is a major catastrophe for the people of japan, as this earthquake has affected several ti

the roads around tokyo are jammed. we've been trying to access people in areas, and it's taking a long, long time just to get people from tokyo to us. trying to get towards the earthquake area. is just as bad if not worse. roads are damaged and with this nuclear potential catastrophe on top of that. this is causing people here to have a higher degree of fear as you can well imagine. >> we're hearing reports that those five minutes felt like a lifetime for those frightened in japan. christiane, thank you for that. we want to turn now to ron claiborne who has a look at how close that quake was to major cities in japan. >> good morning you to. here's a look at the area affected, the fukushima nuclear power plant is in north eastern japan. that's where the explosion occurred. 150 miles from the capital of tokyo and 20 miles from the tenth largest city in japan, iwaki with a population of 350,000. there's also a second nuclear power plant also damaged southeast of that fukushima plant, that's the daini power plant and japan

we're talking about aftershocks in tokyo. the richest country in asia, the world's third largest economy affects everyone. >> scott budman is here with the details. >> yes, secondary concern cans. concerns nonetheless. oil prices have dropped. japan is one of the leading consumers of the world but their economy is at a standstill. less oil will be used there. all sorts of uncertainty and the market does not like uncertainty. as you say, it's hitting the american stock market as well. japan, meanwhile, saying production at honda and toyota plants shut down because of the quake. the slow down there is a large part of the reason for our drop. our relationship after all with japan is very tight. uds lablths lou, so are we. concern about things, like food and electronics, how they will be shipped across the globe is spreading across the globe. this is hitting delivery services not just into ports but in places like federal express that saw prices tumble. the nuclear industry, disaster in japan likely to put a holt on projects here

there are fires reported in downtown tokyo. so the full accident of the damage will not be known for hours if not days. but as harold hammer from menlo park suggest at least during the daylight better able to assess the damage and respond more quickly than if it happened in the middle of the night. harold you mention that you have these teams of japanese firefighters with you now and more were expected to come in. i guess this is all in flux they could be returning home sooner than expected to help deal with the crisis? >> yes. we have to find out their last day of training the dwrup that is here, has been here all week. in fact tomorrow is the graduation sayer mochbility i planned to be there for thachl i have been out of town early in the week so haven't spent as much time was this group as with others but i know that the handlers that are with them are also from japanqñ and they were scheduled to return on saturday. then we had another group coming in on saturday or sunday that was going to be here that we have trained with

you are looking at the live footage from the prime minister's office in tokyo. first we have chief cabinet secretary -- chief cabinet secretary yukio edano entering the room. we are expecting to see prime minister naoto kan with a special message to the japanese people. here we have prime minister naoto kan. this is live footage from tokyo, prime minister kan's office. >> translator: i would like to speak to the japanese citizens. the situation at the fukushima number 1 nuclear power plant. please listen to my message calmly. the fukushima nuclear power plant, as has been explained so far, after the earthquake and tsunami the nuclear reactors have shut down, and ordinarily the emergency diesel engines that should have been used to cool down the reactors have all gone out of function. every possible method has been used to cool down the reactor. however, for reactor number 1 and reactor number 3 hydrogen came out, causing a hydrogen explosion. and also for reactor 4 we have seen fire. and radiation has spread from these reactors and the reading of the level seems

tokyo electric power company is making efforts to restore power to the cooling system. the tokyo fire department began spraying water into the storage pool into the number three reactor building early on saturday morning. it suspended the operation after spraying water for 20 minutes to connect electricity cables. five fire engines and 13 firefighters were the at site. one truck has a 22 meter discharging arm.the firefighter to resume spraying on saturday afternoon. they have left the hose in place so as not to delay the resumption of the work. water in the pool spent nuclear fuel is vaporizing because the cool system has failed. this could expose the fuel rods causing them to melt and discharge radioactive material in the air. on friday afternoon, the sdf used six special fire trucks to spray water in the building. they sprayed 50 tons of water in 40 minutes. there a pressing need to cool fuel at the fukushima power plant. workers are carrying out the efforts to try to restore electricity there. >> the problem started at the plant after it lost the power to keep feedin

in tokyo for us. however i can you just bring us the latest on this so worrying development with the nuclear power plant. latest that i'm hearing is that they're not entirely sure what the cause of this white smoke seen rising from the plant. been shown on japanese t.v. right now government spokesman has said that they're not entirely sure it was caused by an explosion but the worry is that one of the old two of the reactors even out of the five at this plant in fukushima around one hundred sixty miles north of tokyo. the worries that they going into lots. able to cool down radioactive materials that the earthquake yesterday has knocked out the cooling system there and also just hearing a report from a government official there as well that one of the reactors in the back plant has actually had atomic material seeping out from it which is a major concern obviously and now five other reactors are also under a state of emergency again which will insistence there but should there be. a nuclear disaster t

i want to stay far away from tokyo for a while. many people who live and work in tokyo come from other parts of japan, and now they want to go home. there is definitely more than just a trickle now of families leaving tokyo for other parts of japan because of the fear of radiation. most of the more than 30 million people who live in and around the city, though, leaving is not an option. they have no place to go and if there is a major release of radiation from the fukushima plant, there dawes -- doesn't seem to be a plan what to do either. if there is, the asumi family hasn't been told about it. they are watching the events to the north with growing consternation. they have an 8-month-old baby and they simple isly don't trust what the government is telling them about the lack of danger. >> i don't think so. you don't trust them in? i don't trust them. >> why not? >> because companies say not -- not truth. >> and what is this you have bought? is is this new if >> yeah, new. >> so instead the asumis like millions of other tokyoites a

i'm in tokyo. we are waiting for defense minister who is about to hold a news conference to explain the helicopter operation to pour water on the reactor buildings at the fukushima daiichi power plant which has just been operated. right now you are looking at the defense ministry where there is about to be a press conference to explain the operation pouring water on the fukushima daiichi power plant. two japan self defense forces helicopters have sprayed water on the reactor building at the fukushima daiichi power plant. tokyo police guard will use a water cannon truck to spray water from the outside to cool the storage fuel. each helicopter is capability of carrying 7.5 tons of sea water. the operation was held at around 9:48, 9:52, 9:54 a.m. and also 10:00 a.m. on thursday morning. due to radiation levels, though, the operation should be conducted from a minimum altitude and limited to 40 minutes per helicopter per day. on wednesday, a white plume was seen rising from a reactor building at the fu

i'm gene otani in tokyo. a

for employees of german car makers like bmw have already left tokyo. bmw says despite the economic fallout, sales are on target for a record this year. at their annual press conference, the luxury car maker says 2011 sales this should top 1.5 million vehicles, beating the 2007 record. the conference was marred by events in japan. bmw has flown 40 german employees back to munich. >> the chief of bmw had been geared up to announce record profits for 2010. but the catastrophe in japan has overshadowed their commercial performance. >> we set up a crisis management group and have taken action in japan. we immediately decided it was important to donate money to japan. what happened there has moved all of us. >> the japanese market is less important that china ford germany's car makers. the country's large electronics sector makes it an important trade partner. >> we have to consider how long it will take before the effects of the crisis have been overcome and what comes next. all things we cannot yet quantify. then we have suppliers over there and this week

. >> tokyo -- after smoke was seen rising from the number 2 and 3 reactor buildings. tepco says they confirmed smoke rising from the buildings on tuesday morning. the company adds that the radiation level at the plant briefly increased after the smoke was detected but later fell. tepco says it judged the smoke would not be a problem for the workers in the plant. external cables have been installed and are ready to supply power to the number 1 and 2 reactor buildings. success in supplying power to the central control room in the number 2 reactor building should clear the way for restoring the reactors' cooling systems. the company can then monitor the temperature and water level of the reactor as well as the stored fuel storage pool under electric lighting. tepco also says workers finished laying electric cables to the number 3 and 4 reactor buildings on monday. at the number 5 reactor building power has been restored with a view to resuming normal operation. >>> radioactive substances have been detected in sea water samples taken near the fukushima daiichi nuclear pow

jr east resumed service between tokyo and nasushibaru. service between nor yoka and shin aomori restarted last week. they say the shinkansen tracks and facilities did not suffer major damage but the route will be opened in stages after repair work is done and full service will resume by the end of april. as for the yamagata shinkansen service between fukushima and shinjo, the company says normal operations will restart on thursday. >>> right. well, let's take a look at the latest in business news. ai uchida joins us in the studio. >> thanks very much, catherine. and welcome to "newsline" business. to expedite insurance payments to survivors of the recent disaster in northeastern japan, casualty insurers will use photographs taken from above to confirm total losses of properties. for earthquake insurance policies the amount of payout is normally determined through on-site inspection. but the march 11th earthquake and tsunami have devastated such a wide area that the usual process would result in substantial delays in disbursing insurance b

roughly 100, 150 miles to the north of tokyo. the worst wind possible for tokyo would be a wind from the due north. this morning the winds are light but they are on shore. so whatever radiation is leaking is dripping back over the land area. but the forecast for wednesday, thursday, friday all has a northwest wind. that will take whatever radiation is being leaked and push it off the coast. so won piece of good news we have for everyone in japan and especially tokyo. on the west coast, we are watching a big storm moving on shore. we've had gusty winds. we've got a lot of rain out there this morning from the california coast north right through oregon and all through washington state. the snow at pretty high levels, up the cascades at the pass to deal with that. seattle, a little break. heavy rain, more or less showers continuing currently. a batch of very heavy rain from eureka up to crescent city. the forecast, very active. eventually some will work its way into san francisco an california and oregon but then it could spark stor

here is tokyo you can see in relation to tokyo where was offshore. whole question and show you where it was centered. the most immediate impact was to an area right there. lookit that agricultural area. we have been showing the floodwaters carried in cars, buildings, all kinds of stuff through farmland. this is a land we are talking about by the coast. as we pull back you can see is not very far from the epicenter. that wave came straight onto shore, right near there when on land and carry debris and all kinds of other stuff right across the farmland. that is one of the angles we are falling. the other one is the tsunami warning all round the pacific right now. but its role some video, more damage in the downtown areas, on the eastern coast. you can see the cracks on the sides of the buildings. they will have engineers out there looking at the stability of all these buildings. they will assess whether they will be red tag or if people can go back in. a lot of apartment buildings impacted by this. they have built up more vertical because they don't ha

it's about hundred kilometers north of tokyo is about three hundred times the norm in the at all itself radiation levels and i read about eleven times as high people are being told by the government that the current radiation levels are either except of operate the k'naan flows a danger to health however this evidence shows as history shows the japanese government has exactly proven it to be always always to always trustworthy and everything that it does say or put forth to the public should actually be checked thoroughly here is reporting that with reactors at the fukushima nuclear power plants having gone up in smoke fears about a possible meltdown loom large japanese authorities give assurances there is no imminent threat to tokyo residents but past evidence suggests they're not to be trusted completely many years and you could destry and the regulators in japan but also it is every society every country or preach nuclear power you find consistently there's a lack of transparency a lack of will. maybe they just think i think we can but that's too much information why should we be inf

the tokyo electric power co. says that it might have been somewhat successful because of the steam that has been seen rising out of the plant this morning. >> what about the relief effort? is it finally catching up? it hasn't caught up with the demands of the situation? >> -- has it caught up with the demands of the situation? >> all of the concern and concentration has been on the nuclear power plant. it is easy to forget that there are hundreds of thousands of people in northern japan who are in a desperate situation. we are hearing that the rescues have managed to contact 26,000 people. that is what the government is saying. sendei it is becoming slightly more easy to buy food. nearly a quarter of japan's population is over the age of 65. we are hearing stories of people who have been evacuated from hospitals and nursing homes who have died in evacuation centers. >> this is abc news. more on the u.n. security council -- this is bbc news. more on the u.n. security council resolution. this is bbc news. the unite

this burned 25 miles east of tokyo. they clan hold as much as 220,000 barrels of oil. >>> the japanese quake and tsunami that follows continues. it's a topic on twitter. some of the users are posting pictures of the damage. you can seat tokyo background and in the background a huge plume of smoke. this shows the tip of the tower. it's befnlt it was inspired in part by the eiffel tower in paris and more than 1,000 feet tall. look at all the people sitting on the ground at tokyo disneyland. there were almost 70,000 people inside the disney and park at the time of the quake but no one was hurt. >> this area is known for earthquakes, but there's so much structural awareness of that so a lot of the buildings are done to eliminate as much damage as possible. one other thing i want to mention -- this is a big quake but not the largest one in history. president largest quake was in chile in 1960. it was a 9.5, so this still big, the fifth strongest since 1900. but the strongest, 1960 in chile at 9.5. >> let's check in with tara

north of tokyo. in between sendai, and tokyo is fukushima. i know we've been hearing about fukushima repeatedly with the nuclear power plant crisis. now that poses one of the main dangers because of the radiation. because of what's going on there and the possibility of the meltdown. so it poses great transportation challenges. so for us, looking at it, we're hoping to meet with people with the top level of government tomorrow to talk about what the options are. and certainly, we want to go in, so that we can try and bring the stories out of the people who are suffering there. it is going to be difficult logistically with the trains and the highways being very restrictive right now. >> jana, i know it's late there in tokyo for you, and we do appreciate you staying up for us. i know you're tired, and you've had a very long day, and you've traveled. thank you for joining us. >> be safe out there jana. >> reporter: we'll be doing reports now throughout the week, and hopefully, give a significant bay area

these fire engines seem to belong to the tokyo fire department. they are going to discharge water at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. as far as we can see on the screen, there are about ten fire engines standing by here. they are going to discuss safety measures with tepco to start discharging water in the afternoon. in response to the request from the government, the disaster response team, headquarters, tokyo fire department dispatched emergency units to the fukushima prefecture and after 8 a.m. today they arrived in the station in iwate city. the fire engines will take part and some of them are equipped with water discharging tower and some can discharge water five tons per minute. a total of 30 engines will take part. safety measures will be discussed with tepco, so that the water discharging activities can start in the afternoon. and these are the fire engines from the tokyo pd fire department arriving in fukushima iwate city and they are preparing to discharge water this afternoon. they are going to the site to discharge water this

navy delivered coolants to one nuclear plan 150 miles north of tokyo to prevent overheating. tonight the government warned that to reduce pressure in the plant, a smail amount of radioactive vapor would have to be released but insisted there was no risk to the public. japan's trance port infrastructure has in places been devastates. at-bat sendai airport, the tsunami crept up the -- up the run woib to the very boarding gates of the tubel. passengers took refuge on the roof. people crowded into bus stations for buses that were going nowhere. the bbc's tokyo correspondent, roland burk, witness the -- wissed the -- witnessed the frustration of stranded passengers. >> there are thousands of people, millions of people, on the streets of tokyo tonight. all trains have been suspended. 9 official advice is to stay where you are. but after the shock of this afternoon's earthquake, many people just want to get home. >> dawn has already broke enin japan. -- broken in japan. there was another large aftershock earthquake in the north. now it is time to assess the damage that this earthqua

a flight from there it's a sucker in tokyo are already fully booked for the next two days the exodus has begun here on the west coast. of the country. some though have no words around it this was once a village those who lived here are returning to find there's simply nothing left the devastation just goes on and on. more than half a million people have been left homeless their belongings swallowed up and spat out by the tsunami relief workers are searching for survivors all along japan's ravaged coast what's now see if they break fifteen thousand they're already been rescued but over seven thousand still missing and some parts haven't even been reached yet of a chill and a half thousand relief centers are still packed and will be for several weeks it's cold and uncomfortable but this is one of the few places these people can get food and shelter huge parts of the country have been completely wiped out of the threat of nuclear meltdown means they could still be more to come. oxman it's. week after chip. what do you think the plan is struggling to get the nuclear situation under contr

tokyo. where the death toll from japan's catastrophic quake and tsunami has reached almost five thousand several hundred over nine thousand others remain unaccounted for and our correspondents are at the center of events and reporting on what's happening around them there you will get their first hand experiences on twitter page and you'll find out about doc and deserted shopping areas right in the heart of tokyo and i have a bell at our reporter and he has his. there and today's other news on japan's crisis all available for you. on the school called. well energy advisor going to send a told me yesterday while the japanese government may be seeking to downplay the scale of the nuclear crisis that doesn't change the fact that the situation is critical and he thinks the consequences could be disastrous. so this is sure not all on steroids this is this will be worse than surely the radiation exposure so high and so i but i don't think human beings can get into the areas that need to be accesse

the now they are in the tokyo as fast as they can and this is just another more evidence that people who don't trust the government don't trust the vice the radiation isn't spreading into greater area outside. this queue of people with a kilometer long they're trying to stockpile what food is left in sendai most shelves are empty now the people here are getting ready to hide fearing an invisible killer radiation explosions at the fukushima daiichi power plant but the country on the cusp of nuclear meltdown one damaged reactors out a casing and a final two reactors have now lost cooling capability to radiation levels peaked near the plant at four hundred times the amount normally absorbed in a year there are fears it will spread across the country while residents prepared to go to ground for a news crews are fleeing this team from new zealand is heading for niigata port a flight from there to sucker in tokyo are already fully booked for the next two days the exodus has begun here on the west coast guard the airport has already closed for the night they won't open for another eight hou

what is it like in tokyo and is there a sense in tokyo that country is ipcrisis? >> reporter: absolutely. as soon as we touched down on sunday, one day ahead here, it was everywhere. you saw people going through, it was crowded and on the streets in tokyo, this had a ripple effect, effecting transportation, personally. you see people coming back from the areas, everybody is talking about it here. as i mentioned, 5:00, we are feeling aftershocks. so far today we haven't felt one but this time yesterday, you know, we were having an aftershock, 5.0. it's still very tense here. according to some of the news reports, they are is about a 70% chance of a 7.0 aftershock in the next few days. this is from some of the experts. you know, with that -- hearing that kind of information, you can understand it's unsettling here. >> are people from the effected areas flooding into tokyo? >> reporter: i haven't seen so much of that yet. what we are hearing are reports of people going to staging areas. the red cross set up a hospital up north of sendai. there are other places where

there have been radiation that seems to have reached tokyo. chiba, which is about 218 kilometers from where this blast site is. we're distant but there is some movement of this radiation. i'm looking through some of these things that are coming in. we understand in the eye tom a prefecture, many people in tokyo live there, they have been 40 times the normal level of radiation. now we're being told that that isn't enough to cause any human harm but obviously a great concern when you hear those kinds of numbers. one woman on the street told me, who is there, says some of the stores are starting to run out of basic necessities, water, toilet paper and other goods, so there's obviously a lot of concern here an unease as you're hearing that some of the radiation levels are ticking up even the slightest bit. >> jana, you kind of touched on this a moment ago, when you were talking about the shortages. obviously shortages of foot, water, gas in the affected areas. now you're also hearing about some shortages there in tokyo? >> reporter: that's right f

there have been radiation that seems to have reached tokyo. chiba, which is about 218 kilometers from where this blast site is. we're distant but there is some movement of this radiation. i'm looking through some of these things that are coming in. we understand in the eye tom a prefecture, many people in tokyo live there, they have been 40 times the normal level of radiation. now we're being told that that isn't enough to cause any human harm but obviously a great concern when you hear those kinds of numbers. one woman on the street told me, who is there, says some of the stores are starting to run out of basic necessities, water, toilet paper and other goods, so there's obviously a lot of concern here an unease as you're hearing that some of the radiation levels are ticking up even the slightest bit. >> jana, you kind of touched on this a moment ago, when you were talking about the shortages. obviously shortages of foot, water, gas in the affected areas. now you're also hearing about some shortages there in tokyo? >> reporter: that's right f

tokyo stocks are moving in a narrow range on wednesday morning. the nikkei ended the morning session at 9,575, up over 100 points at 1.2%. trading is thin as investors are holds back from taking on aggressive positions. they are worried that the recent natural disaster and ongoing nuclear crisis will have a lasting impact on the economy. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is gaining ground against the yen. the greenback is trading between 82.77 to 82. the euro stands between 116.57 to 62. sources say that investors are buying the dollar on growing speculation that a second round of so-called quantitative easing in which the u.s. government buying treasury securities will end early. now let's take a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. in other asian markets, hong kong's hsi is traded over 1% higher. shanghai's key index for major blue chicaps is almost here and the sse composite is down over one-half of a percent. toho bank is the largest regional bank in fukushim

there's not a threat for tokyo or osaka. and. i'm sorry the lanes are facing south to leave it is to say that contaminated don't want to reach a sucker or tokyo for these coming days and fortunately no wash wash out of this radioactive cloud already active rain is anticipated seen as a cloud is expected. as a prosecutor patience snow and rain will stop in the coming hours. as for the rest of the week or the rest of the coming days from monday westerly winds will prevail and for something like five to seven days and is a big relief because this wind will transport any emission of shore. and furthermore it is so far as a weather forecast. he's predicting rain and unstable atmospheric conditions over the western part of the pacific ocean therefore we expect the. beside the discretion of the politan on their on their way they will be washed down or washed out by the rain therefore in about nine to ten days we expect that this. cloud or the clue of the cloud with very low concentration will probably reach alaska what do you think are

the news rattled tokyo residents. but officials cautioned that levels of radioactive iodine in tap water threatened only infants, and instructed families to use bottled water for formula, sending frantic parents out to stock up. >> translator: i am so worried. i came to the store to buy supplies for my baby. >> reporter: while others considered more drastic measures, including leaving town. >> you have to do the best you can. so if you have the means to go further out, perhaps you should. >> reporter: dr. ritsuko komaki survived hiroshima as a child. she is now a radiation oncologist at md andersen hospital in houston. >> the children who are growing, their cells are very sensitive to radiation. >> reporter: which puts them at the greatest risk for developing thyroid cancer from excessive radioactive iodine. concerns for safety of the food supply mounted, as radiation has now been detected in milk and 11 different vegetables. some fear radiation found in the ocean could also threaten seafood. new video released by the

companies who have such a bad reputation that they invited tokyo electric in because they would train the u.s. workers on how to build and operate a nuclear plant on the grounds that you know the japanese really know how to do their stuff so they're going to own twenty percent of all subsidized one hundred percent covered by the us taxpayer we're totally on the hook and us rate payers are on the hook and tokyo electric is going to bring their methods here which are pretty frightening you know for example. you loath that they did not properly evacuate the area they waited late they didn't evacuate in a wide enough area they did not have iodine pills out for people live near the plant those things should've been handed out from the day the plant operated people should have them in their medicine cabinets if they are within twenty kilometers of a plant we do that a lot of plants in the u.s. tokyo electric is not to be trusted nor their nor their partner which they called westinghouse but westinghouse is now just a brand name for rum toshiba and even. if greg just we don't come across as

what finally made you think it was time to leave tokyo? >> ( translated ): in the last two days, the government has looked more and more desperate. we're more worried for the children than ourselves, so we decided to leave. >> reporter: driving through streets this empty feels very strange in a city that's usually so crowded. people here don't believe their own prime minister anymore. "how can he tell them the plant is safe when america jounz a growing list of countries to extract its citizens." the prime minister's spokesman said it was unnecessary. >> it's difficult to understand the reason behind that kind of behavior. >> reporter: people are flooding into places trying to escape from a threat they cannot see, one they don't know for sure really exists, but one that is so frightening, they don't dare take the risk. she quickly packed up and moved into a hotel. from a generation who remember the atomic bomb attacks on japan she has a particular fear of radiation. >> ( translated ): so many lives were lost in the suttles,. with the radiat