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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> japan issues a state of emergency following safety failures at two nuclear power plants. tens of thousands are urged to evacuate. the japanese government believes that more than 1000 people have lost their lives after the earthquake and a tsunami. >> we were under the table holding hands. i was really not thinking about anything other than surviving because there was a very real sense of panic. >> a wall of water demolishes towns and cities on the northeastern coast taking away boats, homes, vehicles. hundreds and planes -- hundreds of planes and ships are involved in a relief effort. more than 50 aftershocks have hit the country but tsunami alerts have been downgraded

across the pacific region. welcome to "bbc news," broadcast on pbs in america. a state of emergency has been announced that two nuclear power plants. thousands of people who live around the complex which is about 150 miles northeast of tokyo, they have been told to leave their homes because of a possible radioactive leak. >> nearly 24 hours after disaster first struck, and other could be brewing on the pacific coast. two nuclear power plants are malfunctioning forcing japan to declare the first ever nuclear

emergency. thousands of people in nearby have been ordered to leave and authorities have set up an evacuation zone. in total, five reactors have been damaged. the tsunami and earthquake knocked out their power supply. >> these are like radiators in your car, you have to have radiators to dissipate the heat. if this does not happen, the water stops circulating. if it is a car, your engine seizes. if it is a reactor, it can blow up. >> japanese authorities have taken the step of sending radioactive steam from two reactors into the atmosphere. this risks it contaminating the environment but this is a lesser evil than letting the pressure rise to dangerous levels. during an error release procedure, there is a possibility that radioactive

materials will be released into the air. >> now the races on to restore electric power to the nuclear power plant's cooling system before their emergency batteries run out. elsewhere, the damage is more obvious. chewed up and spat out by the deadly ways, many towns on the northeastern coast bear the scars of the tsunami. thousands of homes have been destroyed and countless lives lost. the relief mission has begun in earnest. thousands of troops and hundreds of aircraft have been mobilized but they face a daunting task. among the chaos and destruction, hundreds of people are still missing. many lives will never be the same again in the face of such overwhelming, almost capricious devastation. >> let's go to tokyo and speak to our correspondent. what is the latest that you know? >> well, i am afraid in terms of

the nuclear plant we don't have that much more details. at about 11:20 local time, two hours ago, there was a report of a radioactive leak in those two plants. not much more details. the government is doing everything it can to avoid any accidental explosion or anything more serious. so far, there is only the report of the leak. >> what news is the government giving of the situation in the northeast of the country, the worst affected area? >> about 50,000 self-defense forces have been mobilized. assistance has been offered by more than 50 countries. help is on the way. electricity, the phone lines, everything is still down. more than 4 million households are without electricity. companies are offering free public phone calls because the

phone lines are affected. there's little word from that area at the moment. >> thank you. we have a statement from the national police agency in tokyo that says that more than 215,000 people have been placed in emergency shelters both in the north and east of japan. that is this saturday after the massive quake and tsunami. the japanese government believes that more than 1000 people have lost their lives. the majority of those were drowned by waves more than 70 meters high. one of the worst hit areas was the city of sendai. >> house suddenly it strikes, mortal danger descends in the blink of the night. -- how suddenly it strikes.

in an instant, there is chaos. there is a threat more menacing still, a wall of water more than 20 feet high advances across the ocean at speeds more than 500 miles per hour. aren's tsunami defenses among the best in the world but the tsunami is unstoppable, overwhelming everything in its progress. it reduces a house to natural it in seconds. a car disappears into the devolution -- deluge. the quake struck at :256 local time. -- 2:56 local time. imagine being in this office. then there was a frantic

struggle to go to shelter. the quake goes on and on and on. for hundreds of miles around, office blocks, shopping centers, and homes were shaken by their foundations, spreading terror. >> i felt that i could possibly die. i don't know if i should go downstairs in time. my wife was screaming because she was working in one of the buildings in tokyo. >> japanese people are taught from an early age that earthquakes are part of life. from an early age, the training

kicks in at the vital moment. but more destructive still was the awesome power unleashed in the deaths of the ocean, the tsunami. each cubic meter of water weighs a ton. its momentum sweeps away and smashes almost anything in its path. as it advances in land, it bacchantes -- it becomes a vast silty churn. there are shot cars, shipping containers, parts of buildings in the swirl. no one knows how many homes were destroyed but it is certainly in the thousands. not everyone got away in time. the tremors were felt in the parliament in tokyo. the prime minister spoke to the

nation almost immediately. >> this was a very strong earthquake. this was over a wide area and it has been afflicted. i offer my deepest sympathy to the people who have suffered the disaster. >> damage to the japanese infrastructure gives more cause for concern. east of tokyo, this oil refinery caught fire and blazed out of control threatening to spread to residential suburbs. thousands of people had to be moved. what has happened to the country's nuclear industry? four of the 11 nuclear reactors were shut down automatically. the u.s. navy delivered coolants to one plant to prevent overheating. japan's transport infrastructure has and places been devastated, main roads ripped up, railway places -- railway lines

diverted. passengers took refuge on the roof. in tokyo, people crowded into bus stations for buses that were going nowhere. the tokyo correspondent witnessed the frustration of stranded passengers. >> there is a huge line stretching down into the distance. people are waiting to catch a bus. there are thousands of people, millions of people on the streets of tokyo. all trains have been suspended. the official advice is to stay where you are. their shock of the to the earthquake. many people just want to go home. -- there is shock in the wake of the earthquake. >> there was another large quake in the north. the country is trying to assess the immense damage that the

tectonic movement can inflict. >> we got the latest from the red cross's work that is just beginning in the northeast of the country. >> they joined the disaster management team in a government building and they are making all of the officials of parliament and representatives of the companies. they say that they cannot get a hold of -- >> have a spoken to you about buildings that are still standing? are there indeed any buildings still standing? are there any that are still habitable where people can live? >> yes, in sendai city, the buildings are fine. there are some that are damaged. there are still buildings that are okay to work in.

>> you have had details of the water supply. is it still working? >> i am not sure about that for the people affected. >> how about the number of people directly affected by the earthquake and the tsunami? do we know that? >> the japanese red cross is not collecting the numbers on the crowd. this has more than 80 million people, there would be as many people getting affected. >> how difficult is organizations were going to be? >> well, this is one of the largest disasters. this situation is very much unpredictable. so far, we have mobilized more than 16 medical mobile seems and more than 450 medical personnel.

they are going towards the north. although it is difficult to get the contact with them, i am sure the people on the ground are doing the assessment and starting to do the mobile clinic. >> where are people being sheltered? >> normally, when disasters happen, people get sheltered in the public schools or gymnastics stadium or the public theater's or large spaces. so, i am not sure. afterwards, the government will put up the public shelters. right now, we don't have much information. >> will you be asking for assistance from the international red cross? >> no, not right now because we have not cleared. we are not asking for in the

international assistance yeah. >> this is abc news. still ahead, counting the cost of the tragedy. -- this is be b.c. -- this is bbc news. the u.n. secretary general says that the u.n. will do everything and anything to help japan. he said that they would do all they could to mobilize humanitarian assistance. >> we are shocked by the images coming from japan this morning. on behalf of the united nations, i want to express my deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the japanese people and government and most especially those who lost a family and friends in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. japan is one of the most generous and strongest

benefactors coming to the assistance of those in need of the world over. in that spirit, the u.n. stands by the people of japan and we have been through everything and anything we can at this different -- in this difficult time. we will be watching closely as the aftershocks are felt across the pacific and southeast asia. i sincerely hope that under the leadership of the prime minister and the full support and solidarity of the international community, japanese people and government will be able to overcome this difficult time as soon as possible. >> for the latest news on the situation in japan, go to the bbc news website where you will

find some extraordinary pictures from the very moment that the earthquake struck. the scene in tokyo after the earthquake. there is also the latest on the emergency situation. japan issues a state of emergency following safety failures at two power plants. tens of thousands have been urged to evacuate their homes. the japanese government says that what than 1000 people lost their lives after the massive earthquake and tsunami. more on the nuclear emergency. earlier, we were told how the japanese authorities are trying to deal with that nuclear emergency at the plant on the eastern coast. >> well, this is obviously an

extremely serious accident. it appears that when the earthquake hit, the electricity supplies and the backup generators to the reactors were knocked out. the reactors scram as soon as the earthquake hit. the turned themselves off. the continued it to produce heat. with this type of reactor, you need a power supply to dr palms and to put the water into the reactor. -- to drive pumps and put the water into the reactor. they were having problems cooling the reactors. from what i have been able to work out from press releases, there are two reactors. they have maintained a state of emergency at 5. there is no danger that some of the reactors. at two, they seem to have

continuing problems caused by an electricity outage. as a result, they have had to vent steam from one or possibly two of those reactors. >> the fact that it is steaming, does that indicate danger in itself? >> i described this as a very serious accident and there has been a release of radioactivity into the environment. in and of itself, the release of radioactive steam is unlikely to cause significant damage to people or the environment. the big problem comes if they cannot pull the cord down and then the medal that surrounds the fuel pellets starts to melt. -- they cannot cool the core down and then bthe metal me

lts. this could pose a significant hazard to people and the environment. >> when would it become extremely serious? when does it need to be sorted out? >> well, it is impossible without detailed information to put a particular time scale on this type of accident. i will not speculate by giving any particular numbers. the rough time scale can be anywhere from hours to days depending on whether they have any electricity, the state of the cooling system, how much water there is. there is a whole series of unknowns. it is very very hard to put a time scale except in the most general terms on how long they have to prevent in the worst case a potential core melt.

>> -- is studying for a doctorate degree at the university of oxford. i asked him to describe the moment while he was on a train. >> all of a sudden, the emergency brakes, on. paul volcker carriage was rocking violently from side to side. -- the old carriage was rocking violently from side to side. it smelled very much of burning rubber everywhere. the whole viaduct was shaken from side to side in a very big way. >> geographic a, where you now? >> i am between tokyo and the epicenter of the earthquake. >> what is it like there? >> well, a strange silence has descended upon the city.

there are helicopters flying about. i think the general impression is one of shellshocked. people are slowly recovering from what was a pretty horrific night of aftershocks and earthquakes. they were coming in about every 10 minutes. i was on the floor of a hotel. people one unable -- un willing to go to their rooms. they were keeping to their rooms. -- they were keeping together. >> today mention how they would want to be involved in the rescue operation in terms of taking people in that have lost their homes in the northeast of the country? -- did they mention how they would want to be involved? >> everyone has been accommodating. there is a sense of community

and working together to resolve this. i was at a school that was a rescue center that we were evacuated to. people were working to get there. school children who could not find their parents. everyone was lending each other's phones. another gave his dinner way to the people there. >> an eyewitness account from a british stated. it is not clear how much of the disaster will cost. production has been halted at many of the car plants. some ports have been affected. the insurance cost could soar above $10 billion. >> scenes of devastation from japan have rattled the world's markets. shares and insurance firms have plunged.

investors are worried about the likely cost of the cleanup. despite the extraordinary level of destruction, it is likely that this catastrophe will be less costly than japan's last major natural disaster. the latest quake was many times more powerful in geological terms in kobe but its epicenter was further away from major population centers. in financial terms, it will probably be less expensive. it is hard to know what the economic consequences of the latest disaster will be. the experience of kobe suggests that japanese economic growth will slow. in the longer term, the vast injections of cash needed to make good the damage can

actually boost the japanese economy making it grow faster than it would otherwise have done. >> it is likely to give us a fairly strong negative impact in the short term. basically, these months and a few months after the disaster. after that, it is likely to have a positive impact on gdp because it tends to be a lot of investment in rebuilding, government expenditure, and the increased investment which is reflected in increased gdp. >> sony, the electronics giant, says they have closed six locations. toyota has shut three of its power plants. the japanese ports are closed. in currency dealings, the yen has risen in value. markets reckon that japanese companies will have to repatriate funds from abroad to pay the repair bills at home, which means they will need to purchase yen. crude prices fell sharply.

the unrest in libya had pushed the price to its highest level in two and a half years. now, oil traders are more worried about impacted temporary paralysis in the world's third largest economy. >> a reminder of our main news, japan warning that radiation could leak from two nuclear power plants affected by the earthquake. pressure is rising at reactors in two plants which are about 150 miles northeast of tokyo. tens of thousands of people within a 6 mile radius have been ordered to leave their homes. there is a state of emergency and force. there is no immediate threat to health. japanese officials say they believe more than 1000 people have so far lost their lives. huge tremors continue to rock the region.

this is the bbc news. >> 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. fis>> union bank has put its gll financial strength to work for a

wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.