TOKYO (AFP) - A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to four kilometres (two and a half miles) into the air, a local official said.   It was not immediately clear if the eruption was a direct result of the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas Friday, unleashing a fierce tsunami and sparking fears

March 13, 2011

PARIS (AFP) ― International rescue teams were rushing to Japan on Sunday after a 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami left more than 2,000 feared dead, at least 10,000 missing and seriously damaged a nuclear power plant.The world has rallied behind Japan, where tsunami waves up to 10 meters high rolled across the low-lying northeast on Friday, washing away everything in their path.U.S. aircraft ca

March 13, 2011

   TAGAJO, Japan (AP) _ The death toll in Japan's earthquake and tsunami will likely exceed 10,000 in one state alone, an official said Sunday, as millions of survivors were left without drinking water, electricity and proper food along the pulverized northeastern coast.   Although the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000, it seemed overwhelmed by what's

March 13, 2011

   TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has been shaken by a strong earthquake off its eastern coast, closer to Tokyo than the massive quake that hit Friday. The latest temblor swayed buildings in the capital.   The U.S. Geological Survey says the temblor had a magnitude of 6.2 and struck at 10:26 a.m. Sunday. It was centered about 179 kilometers east of Tokyo, at a depth of 124.5 kilometers.   Japan's northeaster

March 13, 2011

Scenes of devastation at heart of Japan disasterSENDAI, Japan (AP) -- She scanned the landscape of debris and destruction, looking at the patch of earth where Japan‘s massive tsunami erased her son’s newly built house so thoroughly that she can‘t even be certain where it once stood.Satako Yusawa teared up but pulled herself together quickly.Because for the 69-year-old widow, there was this to be t

March 13, 2011

   TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's top government spokesman Sunday warned of the risk of a second explosion at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, but said that reactor three could withstand it as reactor one did a day earlier.

March 13, 2011

   TAGAJO, Japan (AP) -- Millions of Japanese were without drinking water or electricity Sunday, surviving on instant noodles and rice balls, two days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami hammered the northeastern coast, killing at least 1,000 people.   Although the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000, it seemed overwhelmed by what's turning out to be

March 13, 2011

The Seoul metropolitan government is assembling a rescue and medical team to assist Japan in search and recovery operations following Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami, the regional government said Sunday. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon presided over a meeting of the municipal government officials the previous day to come up with measures to help Japan recover from the quake that struck its northeastern region and to extend a relief fund to the neighboring country, it said. Oh also sent

March 13, 2011

South Korean stocks are likely to remain shackled next week as unrelenting political unrest in the Middle East is expected to keep fueling worries over oil price gains, analysts said Saturday.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) endedthe week at 1,995.54, falling 49.14 points, or 2.45 percent, from aweek earlier as the unceasing protests in the Arab world are fearedto result

March 12, 2011

About 130 South Korean nationals living in the Japanese prefecture of Miyagi, one of the areas hit hardest by a massive earthquake and tsunami, are unaccounted for because of power outages and inoperative phone lines, officials said Saturday.  South Korea's consulate in the Japanese city of Sendai, locatedwithin Miyagi, is trying to make contact with its nationals thereand assess any damages to so

March 12, 2011

Japan mobilised 50,000 military and other rescue personnel Saturday to spearhead a Herculean rescue and recovery effort, a day after being hit by its most devastating quake and tsunami on record.   Every wing of the Self Defence Forces was thrown into frantic service, withhundreds of ships, aircraft and vehicles headed to the Pacific coast area where at least 1,000 people were feared dead and enti

March 12, 2011

  TOKYO (AP) _ Japan declared states of emergency for five nuclear reactors at two power plants after the units lost cooling ability in the aftermath of Friday's powerful earthquake. Thousands of residents were evacuated as workers struggled to get the reactors under control to prevent meltdowns.   Operators at the Fukushima Daiichi plant's Unit 1 scrambled ferociously to tamp down heat and pressu

March 12, 2011

South Korea's air traffic to earthquake-hit Japan has mostly recovered as of early Saturday after one day of disruption, the land ministry and air carrierssaid.   Air travel between the two countries was partly suspended onFriday after Narita and Haneda airports, the two main gateways toJapan, were closed or partly suspended after an 8.9-magnitudeearthquake hit its northern coast. The most severe

March 12, 2011

  HONOLULU (AFP) - Tsunami waves raced across the vast Pacific Ocean Friday triggered by a huge quake off Japan, washing ashore in Hawaii and threatening the US West Coast, as officials urged people to seek shelter.   Sirens blared and Hawaiian authorities rapidly evacuated low-lying areas as the waves rolled across thousands of miles from the Japanese coast to hit Hawaii before dawn around 3:24 a

March 12, 2011