A large tsunami is sweeping through north-eastern Japan, following an
earthquake thought to have been 8.9 on the Richter Scale. The first
wave has also reached Russia's Kuril islands to the north, reportedly
around a metre high. 11-thousand people are being evacuated from the
area. In northern Japan, water is surging inland in Sed-ay, some 350km
north of Tokyo. There's considerable damage and many casualties -
although numbers can't be confirmed because communications are
badly-affected. Several people are missing. The lower floors of
buildings on Honshu island are being flooded and cars overturned. A
bridge has also collapsed. Tokyo's Norita International Airport has
also closed. The quake's epicenter was located 130 kilometres off
Japan's Pacific coast. A tsunami warning's now in place across the
entire Pacific region.