Blast at Japan nuclear plant as quake-tsunami toll climbs to 1,000

Sendai, Japan, Saturday

An explosion at a Japanese nuclear plant triggered fears of a meltdown today, after a massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.

As workers doused the stricken reactor with sea water to try to avert catastrophe, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the chaos unleashed by Friday’s 8.9-magnitude quake was an “unprecedented national disaster”.

The quake, one of the biggest ever recorded, unleashed a terrifying 10-metre wave that tore through towns and cities on Japan’s northeastern coast, destroying everything in its path.

In the small port town of Minamisanriku alone, some 10,000 people are unaccounted for — more than half the population — public broadcaster NHK reported.

Even as Japan struggled to assess the full extent of the devastation, the nation faced an atomic emergency as cooling systems damaged by the quake failed at two nuclear reactors.

Smoke billowed from the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant about 250 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, after an explosion blew off the roof and walls of the structure around the reactor. Kyodo News agency cited the nuclear safety agency as saying that radioactive caesium had been detected near the ageing facility.

Kan’s top spokesman Yukio Edano said the plant’s operator had reported the reactor container was not damaged and that radiation levels had fallen after the blast, but indicated that work to bring it under control was ongoing.

“We have decided to douse the (reactor) container with sea water in order to reduce risks as quickly as possible,” Edano told reporters.

Kyodo and Jiji reported before the explosion that the plant “may be experiencing nuclear meltdown”, while NHK quoted the safety agency as saying metal tubes that contain uranium fuel may have melted.

Tens of thousands of residents were evacuated within a 20-kilometre radius of the stricken plant, and thousands more were shifted from another damaged plant, Fukushima No. 2.

Ron Chesser, director for the Center for Environmental Radiation Studies at Texas Tech University, said it was critical to cool the reactor core to avoid a meltdown that would result in “a large release of radiation”.

“Reactors are not like your car that you can turn off and walk away. They’re going to continue generating a great amount of heat until the core is disassembled,” he told the US-based ScienceDaily website.

The wall of water unleashed by the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan pulverised towns and cities along the northeastern coast. Police reportedly said 200-300 bodies had been found in the city of Sendai.

Some 300-400 bodies were recovered in Rikuzentakata, a coastal town of some 23,000 people, NHK quoted the military as saying. Other authorities said the tsunami had obliterated the town.

The premier’s spokesman said at least 1,000 people were believed to have lost their lives. Police said more than 215,000 people were huddled in emergency shelters.

“What used to be residential areas were mostly swept away in many coastal areas and fires are still blazing there,” Kan said after surveying the damage by helicopter.

The raging tsunami picked up shipping containers, cars and the debris of shattered homes. It crashed through the streets of Sendai and across open fields, forming a mud slick that covered vast tracts of land.

“There are so many people who lost their lives,” an elderly man told TV reporters before breaking down in tears. “I have no words to say.”

In the shattered town of Minamisoma, 34-year-old housewife Sayori Suzuki recalled the utter horror of the moment the quake hit, shaking her home violently and washing away the house of a relative.

“It was a tremor like I’ve never experienced before,” she told an AFP reporter.

“Another relative said he was fleeing in a car but watched in the rear-view mirror as the waves were catching up on him from behind. He escaped very narrowly.”

Radiation exposure

“My brother works at the Fukushima No.2 nuclear power plant,” Suzuki added. “He worked all through the night. I’m so worried about him because of the risk of radiation exposure.”

Some 50,000 military and other rescue personnel were spearheading a Herculean rescue and recovery effort with hundreds of ships, aircraft and vehicles headed to the Pacific coast area.

The towering wave set off alerts across the Pacific, sparking evacuations in Hawaii and on the US West Coast.

The Bank of Japan said it would do its “utmost” to ensure the stability of financial markets after the quake brought huge disruption to key industries, raising short-term concerns for the nation’s struggling economy.

In quake-hit areas, 5.6 million households had no power Saturday and more than one million households were without water. Telecommunications networks were also hit.

In a rare piece of good news, a ship that was earlier reported missing was found swept out to sea and all 81 people aboard were airlifted to safety.

Leading international offers of help, President Barack Obama mobilised the US military to provide emergency aid after what he called a “simply heartbreaking” disaster.

The United States, which has nearly 50,000 military personnel in Japan, ordered a flotilla including two aircraft carriers and support ships to the region to provide aid.

The quake hit at 2.46pm and lasted about two minutes, making buildings sway in greater Tokyo, the world’s largest urban area and home to some 30 million people.

More than a day after the first, massive quake struck just under 400 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, aftershocks were still rattling the region, including a strong 6.8 magnitude tremor on Saturday. (AFP)