By Chico Harlan
Washington Post Foreign Service
HIROSHIMA - A massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake and several powerful aftershocks struck the eastern coast of Japan Friday afternoon, triggering a tsunami that devastated the coastline north of Tokyo.
Japan's Kyodo News agency had tallied 32 deaths by about five hours after the quake, with officials saying that number will surely rise. The Japan Meterological Agency said the earthquake was the strongest in the country's history.
Television stations showed footage of tsunami waves, measuring upwards of 30 feet, that surged toward the northeastern shoreline, pulling cars into the water and knocking boats and buildings onto their sides. Houses floated like rafts along the waves. In some areas, the wall of water looked more like a black shroud of debris and sludge, consuming the patchwork of farmland.
Tsunami warnings or alerts were issued for dozens of countries, including the West coast of the United States, Hawaii and Alaska, as nations throughout the Pacific braced for the quake's ripple effects. The waves, according to experts' predictions, could endanger the coastlines of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia in the upcoming hours.
The first earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time (12:46 a.m. in Washington), causing buildings to sway in Tokyo for several minutes.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the largest initial earthquake struck at a depth of about six miles, about 80 miles off the coast east of Miyagi Prefecture, a mostly rural but still densely populated part of Honshu, Japan's largest island.
Tokyo -- which is also on Honshu and about 230 miles south of the epicenter -- appeared to escape substantial damage, though some fires were reported and buildings shook violently during the initial quake.
But rail service was halted, and one government official said the normally clockwork-perfect transportation system could be stalled for days. Mobile phone communication--a staple in Japan--was largely disrupted. At least 2 million people were without power in the capital. Narita International Airport, the main international gateway, cancelled all its flights for the day.
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