កិច្ចប្រជុំបញ្ហាព្រំដែនខ្មែរ-ថៃនៅឥណ្ឌូណេស៊ីបរាជ័យ
2011-04-09
មន្រ្តីនាំពាក្យក្រសួងការបរទេសកម្ពុជា កាលពីថ្ងៃទី៨ ខែមេសា បានឲ្យដឹងថា កិច្ចប្រជុំស្វែងរកដំណោះស្រាយបញ្ចប់បញ្ហាព្រំដែនរវាងកម្ពុជា និងថៃ នៅប្រទេសឥណ្ឌូណេស៊ី រយៈពេលពីរថ្ងៃកន្លងមកនេះ បានបរាជ័យហើយ។Updated
Shocking devastation: residents survey the damage in Kesen Numa, Miyagi prefecture (Reuters/Kyodo)
Japan is dealing with widespread devastation along its north-eastern coast, with fires raging and parts of some cities underwater after a massive earthquake and tsunami that is likely to have killed at least 1,000 people.
Daybreak revealed the full extent of the damage from Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake - the strongest in Japan since records began - and the 10-metre high tsunami it sent surging into cities and villages, sweeping away everything in its path.At least 402 people have been killed but Japan's Jiji Press News agency said police and other data showed that the total number of quake dead and missing topped 1,000.
Adding to the nation's woes, authorities issued an atomic alert after the quake damaged cooling systems at two nuclear power plants.
Thousands of people were evacuated from areas around the No. 1 and No.2 reactors at Fukushima, and authorities were forced to release what they said were small amounts of radioactive steam from both reactors to reduce the pressure.
Power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power said there were no health risks associated with the releases.
Also today, a strong 6.8 magnitude aftershock struck off the east coast of Japan.
The aftershock, which the US Geological Survey says hit at a depth of just 24 kilometres, was centred 174 kilometres east-south-east of the tsunami-hit city of Sendai.
Grim updates indicating appalling loss of life keep emerging from along the hard-hit east coast of northern Honshu island, where the monster waves destroyed more than 3,000 homes.
The National Police Agency said 202 people had been confirmed dead and 673 missing, with 991 injured. Police in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, separately said 200 to 300 bodies had been found on the shore.
In one of the worst-hit residential areas, people buried under rubble could be heard calling out "help" and "when are we going to be rescued", Kyodo news agency reported.
TV footage showed staff at one hospital waving banners with the words "food" and "help" from a rooftop.
Fears rose for greater losses as reports came in of several trains missing and a burst dam break flooding more homes.
But there was also some good news. Japanese naval and coastguard helicopters found a ship that was swept out to sea by the tsunami and airlifted all 81 people aboard to safety, the Jiji Press news agency reported this morning.
Shocking devastation
The defence ministry said about 1,800 homes in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture, were destroyed, while in Sendai authorities said 1,200 houses were toppled by the tsunami.There were also reports that the airport in the city of Sendai was on fire.
The small town of Ofunato further north reported 300 houses collapsed or swept away.
More than 80 fires blazed in and around Tokyo and in the Iwate, Miyagi, Akita and Fukushima prefectures, Kyodo reported, quoting Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
The north-eastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third of the city was underwater, Jiji news agency said.
In Tokyo, office workers who were stranded in the city after the quake forced the subway system to close early slept alongside the homeless at one station. Scores of men in suits lay on newspapers, using their briefcases as pillows.
Even in a nation accustomed to earthquakes, the devastation is shocking.
"A big area of Sendai city near the coast is flooded. We are hearing that people who were evacuated are stranded," said Rie Sugimoto, a reporter for NHK television in Sendai.
"About 140 people, including children, were rushed to an elementary school and are on the rooftop but they are surrounded by water and have nowhere else to go."
A woman with a baby on her back told television in northern Japan: "I was unable stay on my feet because of the violent shaking. The aftershocks gave us no reprieve. Then the tsunami came when we tried to run for cover. It was the strongest quake I experienced.
"I thought I was going to die," said Wataru Fujimura, a 38-year-old sales representative in Koriyama, Fukushima.
"Our furniture and shelves had all fallen over and there were cracks in the apartment building, so we spent the whole night in the car. Now we're back home trying to clean everything up."
The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century.
It surpassed the Great Kanto quake of September 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.
The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was the most expensive natural disaster in history.
- Reuters/AFP
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