we want to turn things over to akiko fujita, our correspondent in japan. good morning, akiko. are you hearing anything about the extent of the damage? i know it's pandemonium and chaos, not surprisingly, but are you hearing anything about the damage of all this may be? >> reporter: it's interesting. we were just mentioning some of the aftershocks. as i'm sitting here talking to you, we've gotten quite a lot of aftershocks since that first quake hit just before 3:00. you mentioned the images we've been seeing, these homes being washed away on the northern coast of japan. you know, we can say that the closest city, the closest largest city is sendai, about a million people living there. obviously, that is not where we're seeing the tsunami, but we do know that magnitude 8.8 earthquake, tsunami measuring 13 feet. >> my goodness. >> reporter: really just dramatic images that we're seeing out of nkh, the same footage in new york you're monitoring at the footage, the sheer panic people are feeling. you are still in the abc building in tokyo on the sixth floor. is it tough to sit the

abc's akiko fujita, live outside of tokyo. thank you always for that reporting. and, akiko, continue, of course to be safe. >>> health officials in california say that there is no immediate danger to the states from the radiation threat. but they are still cleaning up from friday's tsunami. officials say the damage estimates could top $40 million. >>> in santa cruz harbor alone, 18 vessels sank. another 100 were damaged and 12 unaccounted for. and 50 fishing boats are stuck there for at least a week until all of the debris can be cleaned pup. >> of course, more stories from the quake zone later in this half hour and also on "good morning america." live coverage from our team in japan, including diane sawyer and david muir. >>> and now, for this morning's weather around the country. a pretty wet day from seattle to san francisco. up to three feet of mountain snow in the cascades. and a foot in the rockies. a wintry mix from the dakotas to northern minnesota. some showers in the ohio valley down to nashville, charleston, west virginia, raleigh and atlanta. >> 45 deg

abc's akiko fujita, in osaka. thank you so much. >>> officials say low levels of radiation from japan could reach california by tomorrow. but they say it will be well within the limits considered safe. but just to make sure, the epa is sending 40 additional radiation air monitors to pacific states and territories. officials say they want americans to see for themselves that the radioactive material from japan will, in fact, dissipa dissipate. >>> the situation in japan is changing by the minute. we'll have a complete update, coming up later on "good morning america." >>> in libya this morning, where four "new york times" reporters are now missing. pulitzer prize winner, anthony shadid, steven farrell, tyler hicks, and lindsay addario, went missing on tuesday. >>> and britain's prince william has gotten a firsthand look at the earthquake damage in christchurch, new zealand. he's on a tour, offering well-wishes to the victims of last month's quake. and will also meet australian flood victims, too. the future king ca

our thanks to akiko fujita for that. >>> the waves of anguish spread throughout the world. friends and family prevented from reaching loved ones by broken line and toppled communication towers. abbie boudreau spoke to come in the united states who were anxiously awaiting news. >> reporter: in the early morning hours, as americans awoke to news of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, those are loved ones living in japan did whatever they could to get in touch. melissa young lives in masoua, japan. we heard from her sister, nicole adams, who has trying to reach her from her home in dallas, texas, so far with no luck. >> i immediately e-mailed my sister. and i've been waiting all day to hear back from her. i've been worried sick. she's almost five months pregnant. she has a 3-year-old son. >> reporter: and megan is looking for her sister, katelynn carlson, and her husband, both english teachers in sendai, the heart of the quake. >> we've tried land lines and local social networking, e-mails. haven't heard a word. >> reporter: as the devastating tsunami raced across the ocean

akiko fujita is joining us now from an evacuation center in fukushima. o, we've heard about the economic toll this earthquake is having already. what is being done today in all of this? >> reporter: well, you're right, you know, shocks from the quake has extended to the markets. japan's benchmark nikkei fell 6.3% in the first session since the quake hit. that prompted the central bank to line up a record $183 billion in funds to stabilize the banking system. when you look at the numbers, the economic toll, it really is just frightening. the insurance cost of the quake alone expected to reach $35 billion. we have heard companies like sony, toyota, panasonic shuttering production lines. you can imagine, rob, just how far along we'll feel the effects on the economy out here. >> and also, akiko, we understand you're at an evacuation center. how serious is the radiation threat there, especially after the explosion at the nuclear plant. we've heard about iodine tablets being administered. what are you hearing? >> reporter: the residents who have evacuated, they

abc akiko fujita is now in japan. re hearing there from that location about the nuclear crisis and also if the residents that you've come in contact with actually trust what the government is telling them. >> reporter: well, what we're hearing is that there was, indeed, a third explosion. from this time the reactor number two. at 6:00 this morning. you know, it sparked immediate concerns. we have heard of those other two explosions but this reactor was the one most severely damaged. and the crews had been working around the clock to try and cool it down with seawater but those efforts failed this time and that's why the explosion damaged the steel containment structure. government officials evacuating emergency workers out of that area right away. and just urging people, anybody that is left within that 12-mile radius to just get out. now, we got a sense of just how urgent the situation was when we heard the prime minister speak in a nationally televised address earlier today. he went as far to tell people who were out

abc's akiko fujita is live for us in northern japan. g to you, rob. the news out of japan has not been all too promising on the nuclear front today. we've just learned from tokyo water bureau officials that they have found levels of radioactive iodine in some city tap water. and those measured two times the recommended limit for infants. officials say the water is not an immediate health risk to adults, but they have asked parents to stop giving their babies tap water. now, that adds to the list of products that have been affected by radiation leaks. vegetables, including broccoli and spinach, raw milk, even sea water have all been tainted. this came on a day when a spike in radiation levels forced workers to pull out of reactor number two at fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. they have been working to restore there -- restore the power there and stabilize the plant. the setback really shows the challenges workers are up against nearly two weeks into this crisis. in areas devastated by the tsunami, another moderate earthquake struck. this

akiko fujita joins us from tokyo this morning. akiko, what is the latest? >> reporter: we are getting new numbers. we now know there are 18 people confirmed dead. that's from our partner out here, nhk. 18 people confirmed dead. and 60 people injured in tokyo alone. keep in mind that tokyo is hours away from the epicenter. 60 people injured in tokyo. we're not getting numbers out of northern japan where the epicenter was. but the numbers expected to be much larger there. 44 fires recorded in 6 prefectures in japan. and the images, just incredible. we just saw, as we were tracking our partner, nhk, out here, video out of sendai airport. that's a major city near the epicenter. the waves, water, just flooded out there. and tsunami warnings in effect throughout that region. >> akiko, in addition to being our abc correspondent. you lived through this earthquake. you were there at work. this happened in the middle of a work day, on friday afternoon. hitting at 2:36 on friday afternoon. tell us as a firsthand account of living through it what happened. >> reporter:

akiko fujita reports from northern japan. >> reporter: each good-bye begins with a salute.t lowered so carefully. a thin wooden sheet to separate the bodies. for families, the heartache is unbearable. this woman's daughter, a schoolteacher, was swept away. she says this feels like a bad dream. "my granddaughter has no mother now." the emotions play out at ceremonies held four times a day. this coastal town taking the unprecedented step to bury in a country where tradition calls for cremation. individual burials are banned throughout many cities in japan, largely because of sanitary concerns. but officials here say they have no choice. there aren't enough crematoriums and there are just too many bodies. so the ceremonies carry on. this city determined to give families the good-bye they deserve. they've buried four dozen so far. there are more than 600 others still waiting for their final resting place. akiko fujita, abc news, japan. >>> israeli warplanes struck hamas targets in gaza overnight. it's in retaliation for rocket attacks on israeli cities and the first bombing in

and abc's akiko fujita is in tokyo, trying to make her way north to the hardest-hit areas. we saw complete paralysis in the city of tokyo. we're talking about 13 million people, 30 million if you are talking greater tokyo. give me a sense of the subways and earlier what it was on the road. >> reporter: well, diane, this is a city that is just in gridlock. i'm going to step out of the way so you can see the traffic still out on the road. these are all cars that are headed east to the coast and keep in mind, it's still very early on a saturday morning. train lines still shut down. there, we saw people who, some people had to sleep outside. many of these people who work here actually commute in from outside and so last night when those train lines shut down, people were just stranded. we saw an incredible scene actually, at a bank, around 2:00 in the morning, there were people sleeping inside. banks had opened up their doors to people who were stranded in tokyo, had nowhere else to go. >> what's the most memorable thing you've seen around town? what you have seen in the faces

akiko fujita brings us the latest live from tokyo. good morning, akiko. what is the latest?porter: good morning to you, rob. we are hearing the reactor vessel of reactor number three may have been breached. those developments coming to us from a press conference with japan's nuclear industrial safety agency. this is clearly troubling news because this raises the possibility that radiation from the reactor which combines uranium and plutonium, could be released. this all comes on a day when work resumed at fukushima daiichi plant just 24 hours after three workers suffered from radiation burns while attempting to replace a cable at one of the reactors. two remain in the hospital. the injures halted work at the plant yesterday but crews are back out at the plant, trying to cool the reactors. the death toll continues to rise from the quake and tsunami. we learned today from the japanese national police agency that more than 10,000 are now confirmed dead. more than 17,000 still missing. it has been two weeks since the quake hit and hope for any survivors is fading with every day.

akiko fujita is live in osaka with the latest. akiko? >> reporter: good morning to you.ate department has urged residents who live here in japan and also especially those who live within 50 miles of the fukushima daiichi plant to evacuate. those who cannot are being asked to seek shelter indoors. we have learned that president obama has authorized the first evacuations of americans out of japan. the state department providing charter flights to help u.s. citizens wishing to escape elevated radiation levels in the country. news that illustrates just how dire the situation at the nuclear plant has become. we're getting such conflicting reports on the situation up north. it is difficult even for teams on the ground to get a firm grasp of exactly what is going on. we know this is a fluid situation that is changing by the hour, but we do know the u.s.'s top nuclear official told congress which cools spent fuel rods at the nuclear complex lost most of its water and setting up the plant for a dire situation. now, japanese officials have challenged those reports saying the water

akiko fujita is joining us from osaka this morning. akiko? >> reporter: good morning to you, rob.know crews are spraying reactor three from the ground. that began just a short time ago. no word yet on how effective that has been so far, but it's one of many efforts in an all-out battle to save the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. high radiation levels prevented crews from spraying the water yesterday. they did, however, go in with helicopters to drop 30 tons of seawater. now, officials say that didn't do much to cool them down. they need the seawater to cool down the reactors, and they need water levels to go up to avert a meltdown. meantime, the evacuation of american citizens already under way. the first charter flight arranged by the u.s. embassy left friday morning. there is a bus on its way from sendai to tokyo right now, and many will also be taking those charter flights back to the u.s. it's the first wave of american citizens who will be making their way back home out of concern for uncertainty of the nuclear threat on the ground. all of the focus on the nuclear reactor, t

. >> we go to abc's akiko fujita live in kamaishi, japan. with the very latest. morning to you, peggy and rob. we just learned power has been restored to reactors number three, four and five. and it is just the news japanese officials have been waiting for. that's key because that power will eventually get everything running in a way that cools down the reactors and adds cooling water to spent fuels that are leaking radiation. now, they've also been working on the replacement pumps. if that starts working, enough seawater is pumped into reactors and spent fuel pools, officials believe they could stabilize the plant. meaning, bring the temperatures back to a safe cooling place. they are expected to resume water-spraying operations later today as well. now, traces of radiation found in vegetables and water remain a concern and shipments of spinach and raw milk from the area surrounding the nuclear power plant have been stopped. the international atomic energy association says japan needs to do more to reassure the public about food. the government has just started t

our reporter akiko fujita is there. give us the latest, akiko?ter: this say country in a state of shock. 200 confirmed deaths. that's the official toll. clearly a conservative number. you mentioned the reports with tens of thousands of people missing. we actually come to you from the bureau this is one safe spot, cell phone reception is out. internet service is spotty. all throughout japan. we have gotten reports of a passenger plane missing in in the coastal area, 200 to 300 bodies found on the northeastern coast. that's an estimation, but we're getting the number as they come in. >> of course, it's still the middle of the night in japan, the numbers are certain to climb as day breaks. what can you tell us now about the very dangerous situation with the nuclear reactor? >> reporter: that's right, it's 50 miles south of the epicenter in an area an area called fukushima. there's a huge concern out there right now. we should also say, you know, in the cities, it's really, one, train service has all but started up again. you imagine, in japan, there

abc's akiko fujita, live in japan for us this morning. we've been showing you the scope and magnitude of the destruction in japan. really, on an epic scale. >> that's right. that word epic can describe the tsunami that caused most of the destruction. some new demonstrations of its power, now, from our david muir. >> reporter: this new video shows a tidal wave is hardly just an oversized beach wave. while a regular wave lasts a few seconds and recedes, you can see here, the tsunami just keeps coming and coming. lasting 50 minutes or more. a literal wall of water, swallowing everything in its path. these pictures were taken friday, near the town of miyako. and farther down the coast, the sirens went off at 3:00 p.m. residents had 11 minutes to reach higher ground, before that giant water of wall arrived and leveled their town. that so many made it to safety, is a testament to japan's tsunami warning system here. >> imagine what it would have been without such a warning system in place. it would be far worse than it is now. you can hardly im