Tsunami in Japan

The massive wave of water, as high as 10 metres in near parts, reached more than five kilometres inland. The meteorological agency issued its top-level evacuation alerts for the entire Japanese coast amid warnings of a tsunami of amid six and 10 metres. Towns and farms around Sendai city in northern Japan have been engulfed by a seven-metre tsunami, while a four-metre wave swamped parts of Kamaishi on the Pacific coast.Residents have been ordered to high backdrop and stay away from the coast as tsunamis can strike in several waves. Seismologists say the jolt was 160 times more powerful than the one that devastated Christchurch last month. Japanese television has shown pictures of a skirt of water kilometres wide moving its way across the countryside, engulfing everything in its path. The Cosmo oil refinery in Chiba prefecture outside capital of Japan has exploded, sending flames dozens of metres into the air, with firefighters unable to contain the inferno.It is one of more than 40 blazes burning across Japan. An quake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicentre in spite of appearance minutes and more distant coastlines within hours, the agency said. A tsunami warning has been issued across the wider Pacific including Russia, the territories of Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, the marshal Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Micronesia and Hawaii.Russia has evacuated 11,000 people from areas that could be affected, including Kuril islands and Sakhalin island. Hawaii has also ordered evacuations. The Bureau of Meteorology says thither is no tsunami threat to Australia. The quake, already considered one of the worst in Japans history, struck about 382 kilometres north-east of capital of Japan at a depth of 24 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said. The USGS reported at least(prenominal) eight strong aftershocks, including a 6. 8 quake on the mainland 66 kilometres north-east of To kyo.