Top News Stories –
Japan earthquake: Tsunami hits north-east –
Japan’s most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant, where pressure has exceeded normal levels. Officials say 350 people are dead and about 500 missing, but it is feared the final death toll will be much higher. In one ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found. The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, said scientists. Thousands of people living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate. [BBC] See Video of the Day
Video of the Day –
Japan Tsunami Footage
List of the Day –
List of ten most powerful earthquakes [Wikipedia]
| Rank | Date | Location | Event | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 22, 1960 | Valdivia, Chile | 1960 Valdivia earthquake | 9.5 |
| 2 | March 27, 1964 | Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States | 1964 Alaska earthquake | 9.2 |
| 3 | December 26, 2004 | Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia | 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake | 9.1 |
| 4 | March 11, 2011 | Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake | 9.0 |
| 5 | November 4, 1952 | Kamchatka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 1952 Kamchatka earthquakes | 9.0 |
| 6 | August 13, 1868 | Arica, Chile (then Peru) | 1868 Arica earthquake | 9.0 (est.) |
| 7 | January 26, 1700 | Pacific Ocean, USA and Canada (then part of the British Empire) | 1700 Cascadia earthquake | 8.7–9.2 (est.) |
| 8 | July 9, 869 | Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan | 869 Sanriku earthquake | 8.9 (est.) |
| 9 | December 2, 1611 | Pacific Ocean, Hokkaido, Japan | 1611 Sanriku earthquake | 8.9 (est.) |
| 10 | April 2, 1762 | Chittagong, Bangladesh (then Kingdom of Mrauk U) | 1762 Arakan earthquake | 8.8 (est.) |
Other News Stories –
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2011 Libyan civil war:
- European Union leaders gather in Brussels for an urgent summit. (BBC)
- Clashes continue to take place between rebels and Gaddafi loyalists at Ra’s Lanuf. (Al Jazeera)
- 2011 Saudi Arabian protests:
- Protesters take to the streets of Hofuf and al-Ahsa in the east of the country. (Reuters) (Wall Street Journal)
- 2011 Kuwaiti protests:
- 2011 Bahraini protests:
- Security is increased as a large march takes place towards the royal court. (Reuters)
- India and Pakistan successfully conduct missile tests. (Sify India)
- Arts and culture
- American actor Mel Gibson is charged with misdemeanor battery for an alleged assault on his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva in January 2010. (Access Hollywood)
- Disasters
- 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
- A 9.0 magnitude earthquake hits offshore of Japan‘s Miyagi prefecture, producing tsunamis as high as 10 meters near the epicenter and reaching land throughout the Pacific ocean. (Japan Times)(Canadian Press via Google News), (AP via ABC News America)
- At least 1000 people have died in the earthquake and tsunami.(LA Times)
- The United States Geological Survey estimates that it is the fifth strongest earthquake since 1900. (USGS)
- Japanese television shows footage of flooding along Japan’s northeastern coast. (AP via New York Times)
- A tsunami warning is also issued for Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the United States. (Market Watch), (Oregon Live)
- The Government of Japan evacuates thousands of residents living near the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant following a radiation leak. (New York Times)
- The cooling system at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant also experiences problems. (RT)
- The Governor of California Jerry Brown declares a state of emergency in Del Norte, Humboldt, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. (LA Times)
- The Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, declares a state of emergency in all 77 counties due to wildfires burning out of control in that state and Colorado. (CNN)
- A bus plunges into a ravine in the Xinjiang region in western China killing at least 16 people and with 24 people injured. (AP via MSNBC)
- Mount Karangetang erupts in Sulawesi, Indonesia, forcing local evacuations. (The Hindu)
- Law and crime
- A U.S. federal magistrate rules that prosecutors can demand Twitter account information in relation to Wikileaks. (AP)
- Two ex-Blackwater consultants are found guilty in the United States of the involuntary manslaughter of a civilian in the Afghan capital Kabul. (AP via NPR)
- Politics
- The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty enters into force, making the Union of South American Nations an international legal personality. (Telesur)(Télam)
- Taiwan‘s opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen launches her presidential bid. (Focus Taiwan) (Straits Times)
- Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai calls for an end to the country’s unity government after one of his party members is arrested. (AllAfrica.com)
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