In an unprecedented move, Google put Tsunami Alert on its homepage hours after the massive 8.9 Japanese earthquake. It put up a crisis response page on its site, link to which is placed just below the search box on its homepage. It includes a "person finder" in English and Japanese which allows users to ask for information or provide information about individuals.
Daybreak was expected to reveal the full extent of the death and damage from Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the 10-meter high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages, sweeping away everything in its path.
In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried under rubble could be heard calling out "help" and "when are we going to be rescued," Kyodo news agency reported.
The government warned there could be a small radiation leak from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by the quake. Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered an evacuation zone around the plant be expanded to 10 km (6 miles) from 3 km. Some 3,000 people had earlier been moved out of harm's way.
Underscoring concerns about the Fukushima plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, U.S. officials said Japan had asked for coolant to avert a rise in the temperature of its nuclear rods, but ultimately handled the matter on its own. Officials said a leak was still possible because pressure would have to be released.
The unfolding natural disaster prompted offers of search and rescue help from 45 countries.
"This is likely to be a humanitarian relief operation of epic proportions," Japan expert Sheila Smith of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a commentary.
The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third of the city was under water, Jiji news agency said on Saturday.
The airport in the city of Sendai, home to one million people, was on fire, it added.
TV footage from Friday showed a muddy torrent of water carrying cars and wrecked homes at high speed across farmland near Sendai, 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Ships had been flung onto a harbor wharf, where they lay helplessly on their side.
Boats, cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in the water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi in northern Japan. Kyodo news agency reported that contact had been lost with four trains in the coastal area.
Reuter news link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110312
Links to other news feeds and videos:
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709856
World News: http://article.wn.com/view/2011/03/11/Huge_tsunami_kills_hundreds_in_Japan_sweeps_across_Pacific_q/
TOI: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Huge-quake-tsunami-kill-1000-in-Japan-world-offers-help/articleshow/7678342.cms
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