Earthquake (8.9magnitude) & Tsunami hits Tokyo

inspector_monkfish

07:07 11Mar11 - POWER OUTAGE HITS 4 MILLION HOMES IN TOKYO, SURROUNDING AREA-KYODO

07:09 11Mar11 - ONE PERSON DEAD IN JAPAN'S FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE AFTER QUAKE -KYODO

07:11 11Mar11 - MAJOR FIRE AT COSMO OIL'S CHIBA REFINERY NEAR TOKYO -TV

07:11 11Mar11 - TSUNAMI OF 10 METRES HITS PORT IN SENDAI, NORTHERN JAPAN -KYODO

07:13 11Mar11 - WESTERN JAPAN'S WAKAYAMA PREFECTURE ORDERS 20,000 PEOPLE TO EVACUATE AFTER TSUNAMI WARNING -KYODO

07:18 11Mar11 - JAPAN EXTENDS WARNING FOR BIG TSUNAMI TO MORE AREAS ON PACIFIC COAST-KYODO

07:19 11Mar11 - NORTHEAST JAPAN SENDAI'S AIRPORT FLOODED -TV

07:23 11Mar11 - JAPAN PM URGES PEOPLE TO ACT CALMLY AFTER QUAKE -KYODO

07:24 11Mar11 - TEN INJURED AFTER NORTHERN JAPAN QUAKE, TAKEN TO HOSPITAL -KYODO

07:27 11Mar11 - JAPAN GOVT TO SEND 900 RESCUE WORKERS TO NORTHERN JAPAN AFTER QUAKE -KYODO

07:30 11Mar11 - Tsunami hits, one reported dead after Japan quake

07:36 11Mar11 - STRONG AFTERSHOCK HITS NORTHERN JAPAN -NHK

TOKYO, March 11 - A 10-metre (30-foot) tsunami hit the port in Sendai in northern Japan on Friday after a huge quake struck off the coast and one person was reported dead, Kyodo news agency reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the magnitude of the quake to 8.9.

FrankieBoyle

Watching the tsunami live :eek: - shocking . Power station on fire too...

julieq

Watching this in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, and apart from the horrific reports and pictures I have to say that Al Jazeera's coverage is streets ahead of the BBC. They're letting the experts talk and not injecting misplaced speculation. It doesn't detract one iota from the drama.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

the warnings have now been extended to Austrailia and south america..

vivatifosi

I'm watching it on Sky whose coverage has been excellent. They haven't broken for adverts since the news hit an hour and a half ago. Have been following the Twitter feed too. Very happy to see that everyone is safe at Tokyo Disney, which has been hit by a Tsunami in their car park area.

inspector_monkfish

08:26 11Mar11 - Widespread tsunami warning issued after Japan quake

SINGAPORE, March 11 - A tsunami warning has been issued for areas across East Asia and the western coast of South America following a huge earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Among the countries for which a tsunami warning is in effect are: Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

The biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses and cars.

By 0800 GMT there had been no reports of a serious tsunami hitting anywhere beyond Japan.

"A tsunami is a series of waves and the first wave may not be the largest," the center said. "The threat can continue for many hours as multiple waves arrive."

lostinrates

Its horrific the images isn't it?

DH was meant to be there this week to sort through an issue that isn't going through there for some reason: thank good he didn't go. And he's just given a colleague a bit of an ear bashing for badgering Tokyo based people about lack of response this morning.

inspector_monkfish

Our head office is apparantly ok, they have a brand new building which i guess was built to sustain such earthquakes. Traders are all still in there working !

But Tokyo underground is understandably not running!

inspector_monkfish

08:41 11Mar11 - FTSE Opens 0.5% Lower On Japan Quake,Tsunami
MARKET NEWS:

FTSE 100 5816.15 -29.14 -0.50%
FTSE 250 11431.45 -84.19 -0.73%
DJ UK Small-Cap TSM Index 3456.74 -26.00 -0.75%

London Stocks Open Lower; Insurers Sink
0822 GMT [Dow Jones] FTSE 100 down, falling sharply into negative territory.
The decline is far greater than expected by spreadbetters, largely due to the
devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, with the FTSE 350 non-life insurance
index down 1.6%. On the FTSE 250, Lloyd's insurer Amlin is down 4.2%. Munich Re
is down 4.5% in Europe. Meanwhile, the negative sentiment continues regarding the
geopolitical situation in North Africa and the Middle East. Also, miners slip
after a higher-than-expected inflation reading from China. U.K. PPI is at 0930
GMT.

inspector_monkfish

08:44 11Mar11 - STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Euro insurers plunge on Japan quake

Shares in insurers were the biggest sectoral losers in Europe, with the STOXX Europe 600 Insurance index <.SXIP> down 2 percent after a massive 8.9 magnitude quake in Japan raises fears of damage claims.

"Definitely bad news for the sector and shares are being beaten," a trader says. Shares in big European reinsurers Munich Re <MUVGn.DE>, Swiss Re <RUKN.VX>, Hannover Re <HNRGn.DE> and Scor <SCOR.PA> fall by between 4 and 5 percent.

Insurers Allianz <ALVG.DE> and Axa <AXAF.PA> are down 1.7 and 1.3 percent. "It is too early to tell what the impact will be," a Swiss Re spokesman says.

lostinrates

inspector_monkfish wrote: »

Our head office is apparantly ok, they have a brand new building which i guess was built to sustain such earthquakes. Traders are all still in there working !

Impressive, but ....I can't imagine working through something on this scale...I'd want to at least follow what was happening!