BBC news 2011-03-12 加文本

BBC news 2011-03-12

BBC News with Kathy Clugston

As officials in Japan struggle to assess the extent of the damage following the tsunami caused by a massive earthquake, it's been announced that some 300 people are known to have been killed and more than 500 are unaccounted for in the area around the northern coastal city of Sendai. The 8.9-magnitude quake, the biggest ever recorded in Japan, sent a wave of water several metres high sweeping far inland. Its epicentre was about 130km off Japan's east coast. In the capital Tokyo, several hundred kilometres away, buildings swayed violently during the quake, which was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks. This was the sound in a supermarket. These residents described their experience.

"I thought I would die. It was really huge."

"I was on the Yamanote Line train, and it was the biggest quake I'd ever felt. It was very frightening."

"At first, I thought I had a puncture, and a concrete boulder fell onto my car."

Darkness has now fallen in Tokyo, from where Roland Buerk sent this report.

In the centre of Tokyo, many people are spending their night in their offices, but thousands perhaps millions chose to walk home. Train services were suspended. Even after the most violent earthquake anyone could remember, the crowds were orderly and calm. The devastation is further to the north along the Pacific coast. There a tsunami triggered by the quake reached 10km inland in places, carrying houses, buildings, boats and cars with it. In the city of Sendai, the police found up to 300 bodies in a single ward. Outside the city in a built-up area, a fire blazed across several kilometres. In another town, a vast wall of water engulfed 300 homes. The cooling system at a nuclear power station failed, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people living nearby.

As well as Sendai and the surrounding farmland which were swamped, areas nearby were engulfed by fire, including the town of Kesennuma. The Japanese government is deploying hundreds of planes and ships in a relief operation. It has also requested some foreign search and rescue teams to help.

The earthquake triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific region. Mark Lobel reports.

The first waves have now reached the mainland of the United States along the Oregon coast, but no major damage is reported. There was also relief that little destruction was caused after tsunami waves about 1m high flooded several of Hawaii's beaches. Relatively minor waves reached the Philippines, the Kuril Islands and Taiwan. The International Red Cross has suggested the waves generated by the quake could be higher than some of the Pacific islands in their path. Warnings have been issued in around 50 countries.

World News from the BBC

Libyan military aircraft have again bombed a refinery and a rebel checkpoint near the oil port of Ras Lanuf, east of Tripoli. The attacks took place as forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi continued a fierce battle to regain control of the town. Jon Leyne reports from nearby Brega.

Slowly but relentlessly, Colonel Gaddafi's forces seem to be winning the battle for Ras Lanuf. Opposition fighters are still in the town, but they are under intense pressure. The bombing from government warplanes continued today, and there's a big plume of smoke from the oil installation which was hit a couple of days ago. There's no sign of either the rebel fighters or the local population beginning to flee the area. If Ras Lanuf falls, it brings the frontline closer to the main opposition-held city of Benghazi.

Meanwhile, foreign journalists allowed by the Libyan government to visit the town of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, report scenes of devastation after pro-Gaddafi forces retook the town in recent fighting. The United States and the European Union have attempted to increase diplomatic pressure on Colonel Gaddafi to step down. Mr Obama said the US would take a wide range of actions to make sure Colonel Gaddafi left power.

Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators have marched in cities across Yemen after Friday prayers, demanding the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. At least six people were wounded when security forces fired at protesters in the southern port city of Aden. In the capital Sanaa, where supporters of the government also held a rally, police set up roadblocks to keep the two sides apart.

The American State Department spokesman PJ Crowley has described the treatment of the US soldier suspected of passing material to the Wikileaks website, Private Bradley Manning, as "ridiculous", "counterproductive" and "stupid". Private Manning has been charged with offences including aiding the enemy, and he's being held in solitary confinement in prison. Mr Crowley said however that it was right that Private Manning was being held in jail.

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