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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> a new day in japan revues -- reveals the next scale of devastation. hundreds of people are dead and towns and cities have a been devastated. >> i wasn't thinking about anything other than surviving because there was this very real sense of panic. >> a state of emergency issued after two new power plants, tens of thousands are urged to evacuate their homes. a massive relief operation, the japanese government has asked for international help.

tsunami alerts have been downgraded across the region. welcome to bbc news, broadcast on pbs in america and around the globe. a mammoth relief mission is swinging and action in northeastern japan after it was struck by a devastating tsunami claiming hundreds of lives. the disaster was triggered by a 8.9 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful since records began in that country. states of emergency have been declared. people living nearby, up to 300 bodies have been found.

>> suddenly it strikes. almost in the blank of the night and without warning. it is terrifying. there is a threat more menacing still. the speed of a jet aircraft. the tsunami defenses are among the best in the world. it is not movable, unstoppable, removing everything in its destructive process. it reduces the house in seconds.

the quake struck at 2:46 local time in the middle of a normal working day. imagine being in this office when this happens. for a moment, they freeze, immobilized by panic. a frantic scramble for shelter. >> we are going to break out of the report because we are going to go to the meteorological agency. they are giving a news conference. >> we will continue to look at nihon -- the observation points. before we downgrade or lifted the alerts.

one more thing. in my previous news conference, there was a question about the earthquake advance warning system. as of 9:00 a.m. this morning, the earthquakes since then, there were 13 advance warnings we issued. and there were multiple earthquakes that happened after the warnings. we were not able to give accurate projections of the intensity. one was 4:32, 5:12, 6:19 and

6:34. for these 4, we did not get accurate projections. and we see the distortions in the crust that were observed. the environment and earthquake disaster research center has released a paper. from these two west to

northeast, rather northwest to south, we see compression of the plates. >> you mention four examples. for cases -- four cases. do you know what was the seismic intensity i? and which of the areas were affected? >> for example, first of all, the one on 4:32, kyoto, as well as fukushima prefecture.

they were issued advance warning, but the actual earthquake took place in the region, the aftershock of the earthquake. it so happened that it was 5.8 magnitude in northern nagano. this was an earthquake that showed 6. those at 5:12 in the northern area, actually, the earthquake took place magnitude 6.1.

it was observed in northern nagano and other areas. and the one issue 6:19, in tokyo where teh pre -- the prefectures issued an advance warning. the magnitude was 4.1. as for the advance warning that we issued on 6:19,

[unintelligible] to earthquakes took place -- two earthquake took place. the intensity was fukushima 4. a magnitude of 4.2 and other places also were affected. >> is there any prospect of a downgrading the warnings?

>> if you can take a look at the wave shapes -- >> that is of the tokyo meteorological agency, talking about the accuracy and assessment of this size of the aftershocks. he confirmed that the second quake was a 6.6 magnitude that occured in north western japan. nagano, the snow and ski resort there. it wasn't his responsibility to talk about any potential damage that occurred there. an operational member of rapid uk charity was involved in the search and rescue, 75,000 people

lost their lives in that earthquake. you have been following this since the moment it broke. >> from the u.s. geological survey, it is a particularly high magnitude. we are trying to get reports from the country as to the levels of damage. because it might be a high magnitude, but it doesn't necessarily indicate severe damage. they're trying to find information of how bad the damage is, and we will put the offer of assistance to that country. there has to be a diplomatic process that we go through. we have gone through that

process and offer our assistance to the japanese government for that. we all have day jobs that we do outside of rapid uk. it is something for our organization, we are quite small. it can help us maintain the ability to respond. >> there are a couple of particular areas, the earthquake search and rescue, the tsunami search and rescue. >> the type of training, also the equipment. collapsed structures are inherently dangerous. if your working in the tsunami area, you have the water and the inability to move around. helicopters i think will be the

transport of choice to get around. >> there are reports of people trapped under rubble and shouting for help to be rescued. the rescue operation must surely have started. >> in the right conditions, they can survive up to seven days. they can maybe survived 10 days, but conditions have to be right. >> said this is bbc news. still ahead, counting the cost of japan's tragedy. the united nations said they will do anything to help japan after the earthquake.

the organization will do all it could to organize humanitarian assistance. >> for by the images coming from japan this morning, therefore, i want to express my deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the japanese people and government. and those that lost family and friends. japan is one of the most generous and strongest human factors -- benefactors coming to assistance the world over. in the united nations stands by the people of japan and we will do anything and everything we can at this very difficult time. we will be watching as the

aftershocks are felt in the pacific and southeast asia. under the leadership of prime minister, and the solidarity of the international community, japanese people and government will be able to overcome this difficult time has soon as possible. >> that was the secretary general of the united nations. had to our web site. you will find extraordinary pictures. also get an eyewitness account hall, minutes after the country pose the biggest ever quake -- hot get an eyewitness account minutes after the country pose the biggest ever earthquake -- country's biggest ever

earthquake. at least 400 people are dead and many more missing in a sense the earthquake. a state of emergency has been declared. thousands of people have been urged to evacuate their homes. we have some breaking news for you. it concerns an aftershock. it is reported that the u.s. geological survey has picked up a 6.8 magnitude aftershock, recorded off of the east coast of japan. no details, just that it was the east coast of japan. this is one of the many aftershocks, at least 50 so far. the second quake was the magnitude of 6.6 about 170 kilometers north.

the original was in the northeast. let's get more on the safety concerns. we are joined on the line now. >> they are having a challenge cooling one of the reactors. the fukushima site. as your plant produces electricity, it takes a little bit of electricity to run the safety systems. when they lost off-site power during the initial earthquake, the cooling water flowing through the reactor core.

they went to a third backup which is battery powered, and that will get you a number of hours. they will get them back on and get additional battery supplies. if you can do that successfully and manage the situation over a few days, that is where we are right now. >> is that possible for a nuclear plant to lose power completely? what happens? >> if that were to happen, you would have sufficient of the operation in the core that your fuel will heat up. you will have a meltdown like the 3-mile island plant in 1979.

we will have to see, we are not at that point yet. i am sure they are taking all the steps they can. i was at a conference here in the united states that was run by our nuclear regulatory commission has just yesterday. what they said their initial findings are ha was that in severe situations like this, one of the scenarios was a loss of of site power and the effects of that. these situations unfold and you can take mitigating steps to prevent core damage. these events unfold more slowly than would have been taught about 15 years ago.

in some matter of hours or days, they need to get the situation fully under control. >> in such a volatile region that is prone to earthquakes, 55 reactors provide almost 1/3 of japan's of electricity. should they be having that many reactors in a country like that? >> they have to make that decision based on what their options are as far as energy resources. if you look at global climate change, if you were having that amount of electricity supplied by of fossil fuel power plants, you have great air quality concerns that you would have to deal with. if you don't have reliable supplies of electricity, if you rely solely on intermittent sources like wind or solar,

there are effects associated with that. it is a balancing act. i can tell you that certainly, they know what they are dealing with over there. they take great steps to prepare and designed for these sorts of things as we do in the united states. you certainly make your analysis of what you believe is the maximum earthquake. the evidence is that overall, their facilities have done exactly what they were supposed to in terms of the way they automatically shut down. this is one unit to where they are having additional complications. i think people should keep in mind that if there were to be a release of radiation, and that itself is not necessarily something that means the public is being harmed.

radiation as part of our lives. we receive a certain amount of exposure every day. the question ultimately would be, what are the levels of radiation that are released? in the three-mile island accident, radiation was released. half of the core melted. there are no adverse health effects from that. >> thank you for that expert opinion. it is the worst japan has experienced at least 100 years, but the country has a long history of battling with the forces that produce earthquakes. >> a terrifying sight of the huge wave surging inland. houses are crushed. first came the earthquake, now

the tsunami. the first building is destroyed in an instant. according to this official, the waves did not decrease in size. the cycle lasted for about an hour. >> here is the side of today's quake. the fault lines that run nearby in the by some highly active tectonic plates with the pacific plates moving westward. a sudden jolt triggers the tsunami, lifting the ocean floor and the great mass of seawater above that. >> tens of kilometers wide, all the amount of land, it is an

enormous amount of energy. >> there have been no reports of damage beyond japan. so far. this fishing vessel somehow survived the waves and there have been some very disturbing sites. a giant whirlpool and a small boat caught inside it. >> earlier, i spoke to the director of the pacific tsunami warning center how far the tsunami has traveled. >> is in the southeastern part of the pacific after making its journey across most of the rest of the pacific ocean. it is impacting the coast of south america.

>> is impacting in any major way? >> not in an extremely major way. it is probably still going to be a hazard in some places along the coast of south america. we are probably looking at amplitudes no greater than maybe one or 2 meters above normal. >> which countries have been most affected apart from japan? >> hawaii, certainly. we had some impact here. some flooding of coastlines, they are having some impact on the west coast of the united states with a damaging and minor flooding. the major impact that eclipses everything else what is happening elsewhere is what has happened in japan.

>> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies.

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