The island of Japan forms an arc in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Asian continent. The land comprises four large islands name Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, together with many smaller islands. The Pacific Ocean lies to the east while the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea separate Japan from the Asian continent.Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of Asia.
About 3/4 of Japan's land surface is mountainous.Japan's highest mountain is Mt. Fuji (3,776 m)
Japan is one of the densely populated country in the world.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit north-eastern Japan on Wednesday 09.03.2011, shaking buildings hundreds of miles away in Tokyo and prompting the country's meteorological agency to issue a tsunami warning for the coast.There were no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries.Japanese officials said they were still assessing the situation and telling residents along the coast to stay away from the shore
A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean nearby Northeastern Japan at around 2:46pm on March 11 2011(JST) causing damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami which is the biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 year.Seismologists say the quake was 160 times more powerful than the one that devastated Christchurch last month.
triggering a 10-meter tsunami that swept away everything in its path
The magnitude 8.9 Offshore Quake unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was followed by more than 20 aftershocks for hours, most of them of more than magnitude 6.0
An estimated 200-300 bodies were later found in Sendai, the city closest to the quake's epicentre.
Sendai Airport is surrounded by waters
The disaster also triggered a nuclear alert, with 2,800 people ordered to evacuate the area around Fukushima No 1 power plant after the reactor suffered a failure in its cooling system
Sendai Airport is surrounded by waters
A runway at Sendai airport is covered with washed-out cars, sand and earth
Fires triggered by the quake burned out of control up and down the coast, including one at an oil refinery
Aerial view of the devastation
The quake was the seventh most powerful ever recorded globally.Television images showed fires raging in several building complexes as also a major petrochemical complex in Sendai, the biggest city on the coast next to the epicentre. The tsunami also flooded the Sendai airport
A private plane sits in water & debris next to cars outside Sendai Airport in Natori, Miyagi State
At Sendai Airport in Sendai, the tarmac, parking lot and surrounding areas are covered with mud and debris carried by the tsunami
Cargo Containers Strewn about in Sendai
Aeroplanes lie in tsunami debris at Sendai Airport
Ships drifted by tsunami sit on the land near a port in Kesennuma
Flooded street in Ishinomaki
Residents walk on a street in Tagajo
People walk on a tsunami-affected street in Ishinomaki
A Car rests on a 3 story building at Minamisanriku town in MiyagiState
Minamisanriku town is submerged
Waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland near Sendai carrying buildings, some on fire
Soldiers pull a boat across floodwater as they help to evacuate residents of Tagajo city
Earthquake-triggered tsunami waves sweep along Iwanuma in northern Japan
Houses are shown in flame while the Natori river floods over the surrounding area by tsunami tidal waves in Natori city, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan
TV footage shows boats, cars and trucks floating in water after a tsunami hit the town of Kamaishi in northern Japan
A large section of Kesennuma, a town of 70,000 people in Miyagi, burned furiously into the night with no apparent hope of the flames being extinguished
People move to higher ground after a tsunami warning was issued in Higashimatsuyshima
A woman searches through the rubble of her home destroyed in Friday's powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami in Ofunato
People move to higher ground after a tsunami warning was issued in Higashimatsuyshima
A woman searches through the rubble of her home destroyed in Friday's powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami in Ofunato
The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing directions and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea.Large fishing boats and other vessels rode high waves ashore, slamming against overpasses or scraping under them and snapping power lines along the way. Upturned and partially submerged cars bobbed in the water. Ships anchored in ports crashed against each other
Minami-soma,town on the northeastern coast some 1,800 houses were destroyed or badly ravaged.
More than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs
The tsunami has engulfed large parts of Miyagi.
Residents looked at destroyed buildings in water in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday 12.03.2011 morning.
A tsunami at least 4 metres high has hit Kamaishi in northern Japan
Toya Chiba, a reporter for local newspaper Iwate Tokai Shimbun, is swept by a tsunami as he records with his video camera, at Kamaishi port, Iwate prefecture
(TEPCO)Tokyo Electric Power Co has connected the external transmission line with the receiving point of the plant and confirmed that electricity can be supplied.
Food,Water & Fuel short for Victims
A widening cloud of radiation on added to the misery of millions of people in Japan's devastated northeast, already short of water and food and trying to keep warm in near-freezing temperatures
Workers from Koriyama distribute emergency waterbags to citizens in downtown Koriyama
Japanese citizens wait in line for gas at a filling station in Ichinoseki
Members of a family have a dinner at a shelter in Ofuna
Evacuees wrapped themselves in blankets take a rest at an evacuation center in Hachinohe
Minami-soma,town on the northeastern coast some 1,800 houses were destroyed or badly ravaged.
More than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs
The tsunami has engulfed large parts of Miyagi.
Water inundates Miyagi post tsunami
Japan quake sparks widespread destruction
People walk through Tsunami destruction
Tsunami engulfs Natori
Tsunami sweeps trees, houses in Natori
Fires burn in a harbour following an earthquake and tsunami in Natori City
Vehicles swept away by massive Japan tsunami
Residents looked at destroyed buildings in water in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday 12.03.2011 morning.
Toya Chiba, a reporter for local newspaper Iwate Tokai Shimbun, is swept by a tsunami as he records with his video camera, at Kamaishi port, Iwate prefecture
Ship tossed ashore by tsunami
Cars Crash and burn in japan tsunami
Firefighters, bottom, hose over still smoldering cars among hundreds vehicles being swept and caught fire following a devastating tsunami in Hitachi
Fishing boats drifted by tsunami sit on a pier near a port in Hachinohe
Ships drifted by tsunami sit on the land near a port in Kesennuma
Light shines over the devastation in Kessennuma, Miyagi prefecture on March 20, 2011
Members of fire department stand in front of a collapsed factory of precision work in Sukagawa
Buildings of Haramachi generating power plant are seen devastated in Minami Soma, Fukushima, northern Japan Saturday, March 12, 2011
Quake victim helicoptered from rubble
People are rescued from tsunami-destroyed buildings
A man stands on a street scattered with rubble, boats and vehicles at Miyako
Elderly people look at the extensive damages from the huge tsunami in Minamisoma
Minamisanriku Survivors recall a wave of frothing water
survivors described a wall of frothing brown water that tore through this town of more than 17,000 so fast that few could escape. Town officials say as many as 10,000 people may have been swallowed by the sea
Third blast at N-plant, Japan faces potential nuclear disaster
The Japanese government told people living within 30 KM, about 18 miles, of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to stay indoors, keep their windows closed and stop using air-conditioning.
Smoke billowed from a building at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant Friday 18.03.2011 as emergency crews worked to reconnect electricity to cooling systems and spray more water on the overheating reactors. smoke came from Unit 2, and its cause was not known, the nuclear safety agency said.It is to be noted that 4 of the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant's 6 reactors have seen fires, explosions or partial meltdowns in the week since the tsunami.
A fire engine sprays water onto reactor number 3 at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, north of Tokyo, on March 19, 2011
Japan lays power cable in race to stop radiation
Working inside a 20 km (12 miles) evacuation zone at Fukushima, nearly 300 engineers were focused on trying to restore power at pumps in four of the reactors.(TEPCO)Tokyo Electric Power Co has connected the external transmission line with the receiving point of the plant and confirmed that electricity can be supplied.
Another 1,480 meters (5,000 feet) of cable are being laid inside the complex before engineers try to crank up the coolers at reactor No. 2, followed by 1, 3 and 4 this weekend, company officials added.
Should that work, it will be a turning point.
If they can get those electric pumps on and they can start pushing that water successfully up the core, quite slowly so you don't cause any brittle failure, they should be able to get it under control in the next couple of days.
If not, there is an option of last resort under consideration to bury the sprawling 40-year-old plant in sand and concrete to prevent a catastrophic radiation release.
That method was used to seal huge leakages from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Japan nuclear crisis: Foreign nationals, journalists asked to leave Sendai
All foreign nationals, journalists have been asked by their respective governments to leave Sendai in Japan. The directive comes after a third explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.Food,Water & Fuel short for Victims
A widening cloud of radiation on added to the misery of millions of people in Japan's devastated northeast, already short of water and food and trying to keep warm in near-freezing temperatures
Japanese citizens wait in line for gas at a filling station in Ichinoseki
Members of a family have a dinner at a shelter in Ofuna
Evacuees wrapped themselves in blankets take a rest at an evacuation center in Hachinohe
The catastrophic quake and ensuing tsunami in Japan last week has left 6,405 people dead, while at least 10,259 were still unaccounted for till Friday, the National Police Agency said.
Passengers wait for the resumption of train service suspended due to earthquake, at a station in Tokyo
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recommends that -
US citizens who live within 80 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or take shelter indoors if safe evacuation is not practical.
US citizens should defer all travel to the evacuation zone around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami and tourism and non-essential travel to the rest of Japan at this time
First Batch Of Indians from Japan Arrive
It is a happy homecoming for nearly 500 of the passengers most of them Indians who have managed to come back from Japan carrying memories of a country which has been struck by a massive tragedy on 16.03.2011 when they arrive at the Delhi airport on a special flight from Japan.
Search and Rescue in Japan
Members of the Swiss rescue team wait for the departure to Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011 at Zurich's Kloten airport in Switzerland
Members of the German Federal Agency for technical Relief board a plane to Japan at Frankfur-Hahn airport near Lautzenhausen, Germany, Saturday March 12, 2011
A rescuer uses a sniffer dog to look for missing persons in the rubble in Soma
Japan's Self Defence Force soldiers search for missing people in a snow-covered field in Miyako
The official death toll from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami passed the 10,000 mark on Friday and was still climbing two weeks after the magnitude-9 quake struck off the northeastern coast and unleashed a cascade of disasters.
Hundreds of thousands of survivors are still camped out in temporary shelters. Some 660,000 households do not have water more than 209,000 do not have electricity. Damage could rise as high as $310 billion, the government said, making it the most costly natural disaster on record
Forgoing sacred funeral rites to dispose of dead adds to families' pain
The towering waves that splintered thousands of Japanese homes and lives has forced the country to rethink one of its most sacred Buddhist practices, how it treats the dead.Desperate municipalities are digging mass graves, unthinkable in a nation where the deceased are usually cremated and their ashes placed in stone family tombs near Buddhist temples
With supplies of fuel and ice dwindling, officials have abandoned cremation in favor of quick, simple burials in a show of pragmatism over tradition. Some are buried in bare plywood caskets and others in blue plastic tarps, with no time to build proper coffins
The funeral for Chieko Mori's daughter and granddaughter was an affront to Japanese sacred customs — the two were placed in simple wooden coffins that soldiers lowered into a ditch in a vegetable patch as a backhoe poured in earth, burying them alongside scores of other bodies.
Such an unceremonious disposal of the dead would be unthinkable in Japan in normal times. But the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami have left a huge backlog of thousands of bodies in makeshift morgues, leaving local governments no choice but to bury them in hastily-dug mass graves
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale on Tuesday 22.03.2011 hit Japan off the east coast of Honshu, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage
The Japanese government expects total damage from a devastating earthquake that hit northeast Japan this month to reach 15 trillion to 25 trillion yen ($185-308 billion), the Nikkei newspaper reported on Wednesday 23.03.2011
Tests showed that levels of radioactive iodine in seawater just offshore of the embattled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are more than 1,250 times higher than normal, Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency said on Saturday 26.03.2011.
US naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan’s overheated nuclear plant on Saturday 26.03.2011to help workers struggling to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility.
Workers at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant have been using seawater in a frantic bid to stabilize reactors overheating since a tsunami knocked out the complex’s crucial cooling system on March 11, but fears are mounting about the corrosive nature of the salt in the water.
The shortage of a specialty pigment that gives cars a glittering shine has prompted automakers to temporarily restrict orders on vehicles in certain shades of black, red and other colors.
Major automakers, including Chrysler Group LLC, Toyota Motor Co, General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co use the pigment, called Xirallic, produced at only one factory in the world - the Onahama plant near the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan.
The plant is operated by German chemical company Merck KGaA, and has been evacuated. Merck spokesman Gangolf Schrimpf said the company does not know when it will be permitted to reopen the plant, which was closed soon after the March 11 earthquake
Japanese authorities have launched a massive search for hundreds of orphaned children in Iwate, one of the three northeastern prefectures that suffered maximum deaths in the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami on March 11,2011
The child welfare experts will initially work in groups of three and look for children without parents at evacuation shelters along with people in charge at the shelters
Japan: high radiation detected at nuclear plant
Japanese authorities on Sunday 27.03.2011 detected radioactivity 10 million times higher than normal in water in one of the six reactors at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant forcing evacuation of workers.The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said the radioactive materials tested 10 million times more than the usual level in water at the No.2 reactor complex.
A baby undergoes a check for radiation in Fukushima City, northeastern Japan, March 24, 2011
Dozens of cities and villages along a 2,100 km. stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of Kms from the epicentre.
Even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore, swallowing everything in its path as it surged several kms inland before retreating.The apocalyptic images on Japanese TV of powerful, debris-filled waves, uncontrolled fires and a ship caught in a massive whirlpool resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie
Japan was rattled by a magnitude-7.4 aftershock on 07.04.2011(Thursday) night(The quake struck at 11:32 pm local time)Damage and injuries from the aftershock were not immediately clear. The Japan meteorological agency briefly issued another tsunami warning Thursday night, but later canceled it.
Heavy rains hit southern Japan
Residential streets are submerged after a river overflowed its banks in Kumamoto, Kumamoto prefecture on Japan`s southern island of Kyushu
Houses are half submerged after water broke Yabe River`s embankment, top, in Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
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