Massive earthquake hits Japan
A massive earthquake and the tsunami that followed have closed three of Japan’s airports and all of the country’s sea ports. The earthquake, reportedly a magnitude of 8.9, struck eastern Japan at 14h46 local time today, triggering a ten metre tsunami that hit the port in Sendai city, which is 300 km northeast of Tokyo. According to Reuters, all of Japan’s ports have been closed. Tokyo’s two main airports, Narita Airport (approx. 60 km east of Tokyo’s centre) and Haneda airport (approx. 15 km south of Tokyo) are closed, as is Sendai airport (approx. 310 km north of Tokyo), which was completely flooded by the tsunami. It has been reported that Haneda Airport is now re-opening two of its runways to handle incoming flights. Tsunami warnings have been issued for coastal areas across the Pacific, including Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as Guam, Russia, the Marianas Islands, the Marcus Islands, the Johnston Islands, the Solomon Islands, Midway Island, Wake Island, Yap, the Philipines, Belau, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Kiribati and Hawaii. The entire Pacific coast of Central and South America are also on alert. Quelle: eyefortransport |