Pacific nations issue tsunami warnings after Japan quake

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit the northeastern part of Japan at 2:46 p.m. Friday, the biggest in Japanese history and 180 times stronger than the magnitude 7.3 Hanshin earthquake in 1995 that killed more than 6,000 people.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings at 7 p.m. the same day for coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

The massive earthquake is threatening countries along the Pacific Rim. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center extended tsunami warnings across most of the Pacific Ocean including Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Chile and Peru. Alaska Tsunami Warning Center also issued warnings for western coastal regions of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Russia did the same for coastal cities on the Kurile Islands and four other islands and evacuated more than 11,000 residents. The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management in Hawaii issued tsunami warnings around 10 p.m. local time the same day and urged all residents in coastal areas to evacuate.

The Japanese weather agency said the quake occurred in waters 130 kilometers east of Sendai and 178 kilometers northwest of Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of 24.4 kilometers.

A devastating tsunami triggered by the quake hit the Tohoku region including Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate prefectures, which are close to the epicenter, causing huge damage across the areas.

In Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture, 60 people died including a 60-year-old woman and 56 were missing as of 10 p.m. Friday. The death toll and damage, however, are expected to drastically increase as the overall damage has yet to be tallied.

A second and third tsunami rising more than 10 meters high are expected.

Damage to ethnic Korean residents in Japan was not reported.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake also occurred in eastern Japan such as Tokyo, swaying high-rise buildings for more than 30 minutes. Plumes of black smoke rose from buildings in the Japanese capital and a transmission tower of Tokyo Tower, a symbol of Japan, was bent.

In Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, high-pressure gas plants at Cosmo Oil exploded.

All Tohoku-bound trains including Japan’s high-speed train Shinkansen were suspended as of 6 p.m. and Narita, Haneda and Ibaraki airports were closed. The massive quake also disrupted mobile communications.

The Japanese government immediately dispatched military planes and naval vessels to the affected areas for rescue and recovery operations.

changkim@donga.com