a great earthquake has hit japan. magnitude 8.4 in northern japan.y has been warning of tsunami ever since the quake. tsunami has hit miyagi, sendai area as live helicopter camera crews are up covering and showing you exactly what is going on at this time. deputy chief cabinet secretary told reporters on friday that miyagi prefecture where the earthquake has hit hardest has asked the government to send self-defense force units to deal with the situation and aid the situation. defense ministry officials say self-defense force personnel are currently contacting local government and related agencies to assess the extent of the damage. earlier prime minister naoto kan and the cabinet have gathered at the prime minister's office, where an emergency task force has been set up to respond to the earthquake. the task force will gather information on damage and prepare for more possible tsunamis. japan's foreign minister matsumoto has ordered his officials to start preparing to accept foreign assistance. she has also told them to check on the safety of foreign

japan. the nikkei lost more than 10%. most european markets also fell. the question for investors is what to do now? is the stock market overreacting to the crisis in japan, or does it pose a major threat to global growth? market strategist alec young says the answer depends on the extent of the damage to japan's nuclear plants. >> unless we are really looking at a repeat of chernobyl, where we had a major nuclear meltdown and radiation spreads throughout tokyo, and it really takes their economy offline for a very long period of time, i think anything short of that has already been priced in. >> reporter: but there are also concerns about disruptions to global economic supply lines. japan is home to many of the world's biggest manufacturing and electronics companies. instead of selling those stocks, some strategists say "buy them." >> i think long-term investors would be rewarded, looking at the best of breed type of companies-- big export manufacturers in the auto space, in the electronics

it's condition critical in all six reactors that japan's stricken nuclear power plant cooling systems failing and threats of a nuclear meltdown and rising to the highest level since the explosions at the facility began. signs of a growing distress among the people of japan as fears rice your authority is not telling the whole truth on the situations getting out of control that doesn't produce panic it just makes people all the more uncertain when believe they can't trust for the information they're being given. and the death toll from friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami climbs to nearly three thousand where the thousands more considered to still be missing. and the nuclear drama unfolding in japan problems experts worldwide to question schuman reliance rather and over reliance on technology that often proves more dangerous than helpful. very well welcome to you with r.t. arrived from moscow japanese officials confirmed that a radioactive materials have leaked into the atmosphere following a fire at reactor number four the fukushima power plant but fire a section of damaged an

one of the tragedies of this huge tragedies in japan is that japan can't walk away from nuclear energy even if it wanted to right now even in light of what's happening at this moment. well no i mean they rely on nuclear power for i think about forty percent of their electricity supply and there's no way they could replace that in a short term now they may find that they can shut down some reactors for maintenance and upgrading but you know you're going to find five years from now they'll probably be using about as much nuclear powers are using today it's just impossible to make that kind of change quickly you know these are huge investments you know putting in that many windows will take forever for example or even natural gas turbines which is one of the best alternatives so i think what you're going to see is that those four units will be shut down probably the others will come back on line at some point just as a three mile obviously brought the second you know back up and if i'd like to point out a chernobyl the same thing there is still one of the plant to chernobyl is generating

is in the region that's some one hundred kilometers north of japan. emergences officials for this region have in turn supplied chaps for radiation levels here in the civilian region we talk to representatives of the ministry they showed us a car which they quit with professional geiger meters which would measure radiation levels at different places around the city so the margin says ministry here assures that as of tuesday morning there is no increase in radiation levels and there is no cause for the residents to panic. in the worst case scenario locals can make. it home there's no threats to the health of the sakhalin people radiation readings are at a normal level. meanwhile russia's defense ministry says that it is ready to send out its personnel from the who are all islands anytime soon this is the closest halls of this region to not japan and also sales of i already have rocketed in pharmacies across the city obviously people want to make sure that they are well prepared in case that there is a radioactive emission threat from what we know from p

on japan. the distrust between the japanese people and generations past with the nuclear agency, are you seeing that now with the events now? >> reporter: there's a lot of anxiety and concern, of course. those who remember the atomic bombings have first hand knowledge of what nuclear radiation is all about. you have many generations sense then that learned from na generation that experienced that devastation back in 1945. this is something they haven't seen since the end of world war ii. >> not just nbc but a lot of crews from cbs and abc and the bbc overseas are pulling their journalists from the site. are you disappointed with that or would you like to get closer to the nuclear reactors? >> we never had an opportunity to go up there, but we saw highway patrol it affected people in tokyo and we showed you those stories. we felt the aftershocks ourselves and fet elt a good dozen of them including a 6.2. so we got a good taste of what happened here, but definitely not the full picture we wanted

>> japan is a critical ally. a critical ally next door in asia is north korea, is china and these are countries we've had our difficulty with. >> japan has stepped in to help with the united states on several issues. plus he says it's just the right thing to do. >>> still more amateur video is emerging from japan tonight showing the tsunami that swept away entire cities. this is video shot in mioko city. the moment the tsunami barrelled through the narrow bay and sent ships crashing into highway overpasses. the water carried houses, cars and debris up to ten miles inland. 9500 people in one northern town alone are missing which gives you a sense of why leaders are expecting the death toll to climb above 10,000. we'll have much more on the devastation in japan throughout this newscast. nbc news is airing a special edition of "dateline" live from japan. lester holt in is tokyo and ann curry is on her way to sendai. that's coming up at seven:00. we'll also check back with george kiriyama who's in japan later this ho

a state of emergency in japan tonight. officials are still trying to assess the scope of the damage and casualties from that massive earthquake. susie, the magnitude of the quake 8.9 is the strongest on record in japan. >> susie: tom, it's still not clear what the devastating earthquake will do to japan's fragile economy and the global markets. here in the u.s. despite the japan's stock index tumbled almost 180 points closing just minutes after the earthquake hit. >> tom: we spoke with our correspondent in tokyo. and began by asking lucy craft what's the initial assessment of damage to businesses and industry in japan. >> companies hit quite hard. sony, hond on, toyota, the major auto makers have a lot of factories up in northeastern japan. there's been a range of damage to these companies. so those factories will be kind of knocked out of operation for various amounts of time. fortunately, the northeastern area of japan is very sparsely populated. this is -- if you compare this to the kobe earthquake of 16 years ago, it a

japan estimate economists perspective, japan has lots of problems. and the economy has not been doing well for years. this crisis in the short run ads to that, but in the long run, it's largely a wash. some stimulus effect of the economy providing job opportunities to people that would go the other way. but i think we are still worried about japan and a longer-term sense, that the japanese economy has lost a lot of its energy. but that's nothing to do with much of this crisis. >> thanks, barry. richard, tell us about lyrical fallout in tokyo. and the foreign policy of the disasters. >> i'm a little bit more pessimistic about this situation than barry is, sort of on the economic side, because i do think it represents a serious challenge to the japanese political system. granted, everything that barry said i think we still have to be, have to recognize before last friday's earthquake the parameters governing japan's future trajectory were not great. it has a declining working age population and a growing elderly population. and so, they are the over th

>>> japan in crisis. high levels of radiation are escaping from a crippled nuclear power plant following another explosion and fire. japanese officials say the radiation is high enough to make humans sick. they're desperately pumping sea water into the reactors in a last ditch effort to overt disaster. meanwhile the scope of the devastation becomes more apparent as the death toll rises. this is the "cbs morning news" rises. this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, march 15th, 2011. captioning funded by cbs >>> good morning and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. this morning the nuclear crisis triggered by last friday's massive earthquake is quickly getting worse. this morning there was an explosion at a third reactor at the fukushima daiichi power plant. it came after a fourth unit caught fire. that fire was extinguished. the levels were, quote, very high and now poses a threat to human health and there is a high risk that more radiation will escape. residents within 19 miles of the plant have be

and this is why i countries go this route inexpressibly island country like japan . so limited resources for energy they've done this i mean we have to remember the obvious truth this is a country that was the first victim of that of atomic weapons i mean they know it's power ok my point is is that they would have already gone down all these green routes would have been if they had clearly thought it was beneficial on a massive scale. they have actually for years been sort of have government programs to subsidize the construction of solar and wind energy and the problem is it has not made a huge contribution the utilities of course are huge companies in japan and they prefer to focus on the large plants nuclear power was seen as a way as in france of gaining a fair amount of independence although you have to remember you know back in the seventy's we had a shut off of uranium supplies from australia and canada after the nuclear nuclear test in the explosive test in india for example so the problem is nothing's really provides you with complete independence you always

it is friday afternoon in japan -- there. it is friday afternoon in japan. no one is reported injured at this time but reports are still coming in. the quake hit at 2:46 in the afternoon and it was followed by a 7.4 magnitude aftershock. there are no reports of injuries now as we said. kron 4's jacqueline bennett is here to tell us more about the tsunami dangers. >> the usgs is working to confirm the tsunami actually happened and i just got the information off the wire here. they say the tsunami has been generated and when no major waves occur for two hours the threat will have passed. there is a tsunami watch in effect right now for hawaii because with a quake this big those tsunamis can affect distant coastlines. magnitude 8.8, this is where it hit just off the coast, the dent 2.2 miles. you need a pretty good size earthquake to cause a tsunami. think of putting your hand in the bathtub. if you shove your water down, it sends the water out in waves. just the same with an earthquake. we saw it near the epicenter and it's spreading from there. now we're watc

the tsunami in japan killed thousands. in some parts of some towns, there's no remaining evidence that anyone ever lived there. and now tonight the crisis has taken yet another turn, and we are covering a full-blown nuclear scare in japan. there are 17 nuclear power plants across japan, 54 nuclear reactors, but one plant in particular is in trouble. it's the fukushima plant, and if you've seen the pictures of it over this past weekend, there was one explosion in one building on saturday, another just yesterday and now a third reactor is in trouble at that same facility. japanese authorities are reporting tonight they have heard yet another explosion there within the last few hours. it's an urgent situation. the nuclear danger, the desperate human toll that goes on, and our team is in place to cover it. we will begin with our chief science correspondent, robert bazell, on the immediate nuclear danger there. bob, good evening. >>> brian, in what could have been the third explosion in four days, tensions are mounting in the s

reza good to have you with us here on r t our top story the race is on to restore electricity to japan's stricken fukushima nuclear plant so workers can get the reactor cooling systems back on line it's been a week since the country was rocked by its worst ever earthquake triggering a tsunami and a disaster about so that fastens of people dead or missing or he's alive or bennett has more from japan. right now they're still trying to reconnect power to the site so they can get those cooling systems up and running and bring the temperature down inside the reactor spots things like the only way they're now going to prevent or could be a real nuclear disaster there now focusing on reactor number two because this morning they actually saw smoke rising from the reactor they don't know what the cause was of that they don't think it was an explosion because that wasn't heard clearly the temperature inside is very hot or they've already managed to do was to lay a power cable from the main bridge a kilometer long cable to try and restore power but they haven't managed to connect that up yet the ra

san jose's japan town. we have seen generations of people, people who were born in japan and have been here for many, many years. also, children who are four or five generations removed but all trying to make sense of the disaster that they have been watchinging for days. our first stop, a preschool where the children are trying to make sense. she's a volunteer helper at lotus preschool as she helps the children glue and write, she's also thinking about her family in japan. >> my niece is in tokyo but she said not much damage. the houses -- she says three story house, almost fall down but still okay. >> reporter: her niece is okay. her teenage children couldn't make it home the night of the quake. the rest of her family lives far enough that they are unaffected. one thing she told me truly put the disaster in perspective. >> reporter: more scared. >> reporter: generations removed from japan, they know that that is their cultural heritage. >> in japan, the earth rumbled and several people got hurt. >> keepin

stocks sell off on worries about japan. the dow fell 51 points, the nasdaq lost 14 and the s&p 500 was down seven. trading volume started the week with 962 million shares moving on the big board and 1.8 billion on the nasdaq. fed chairman ben bernanke meets with his interest rate committee tomorrow. topping its agenda? whether to change its $600 billion bond-buying program that's set to expire june 30. some members fear the bond buys could spur inflation when combined with rising prices for food, fuel and other commodities. but former fed staffer vince reinhart thinks the fed will stay the course. >> they probably won't do anything to touch any of the characterizations of policy, because they don't want market participants to get confused or think they're going to be rushing for the exits anytime soon or, given the tension in the objective, adding to the overall amount of qe2. >> susie: and the nasdaq could be making a bid for its arch rival, the new york stock exchange. reports say the nasdaq omx group has lined up $5 bill

>> mitchell: tonight, disaster in japan. in the aftermath of the massive earthquake, wide areas of japan's northeast coast lie in ruins without power or transportation. as officials say the death toll could well be over 1,000. i'm russ mitchell. also tonight, nuclear concerns. an explosion rocks a nuclear power plant but leaves the nuclear core intact. now questions are being raised about nuclear safety both in japan and here at home. season at risk-- why the breakdown of nfl labor talks could mean no action on the nation's gridirons this fall. and quake questions-- this town prepared in the u.s. for an earthquake as strong as the one that hit japan. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with russ mitchell. >> mitchell: and good evening. it is already sunday morning in japan, and another major aftershock has just hit the country which is still digging out after friday's disastrous 8.9-magnitude earthquake. here's the latest-- an explosion at a nuclear power plant forced 170,000 people to evacuate while a

he made jokes about the disaster in japan.evable news and disturbing news about a member of the charlie's angels cast. charlie sheen couldn't stay out of "the skinny" long. Ñ Ñ Ñ Ñ ÑÑ ♪ skinny so skinny >>> well, this was a big talker on facebook with our facebook fans yesterday. this gilbert gottfried comments, he made tasteless jokes about the tsunami in japan. some kind of joke he tweeted about, you know, a just broke up with my girlfriend but as the japanese say, another one will float by. really tasteless -- >> in japan, the beach comes to you, you don't go to the beach. >> he was the voice of aflac duck and they stepped in and said, not funny and canned him. he apologized saying, i sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my attempt at humor regarding the tragedy in japan. i meant no disrespect and my thoughts are with victims and their families. on top of that, some folks have rushed to his side saying, wait a minute, this isn't right, including joan rivers and howard stern. howard says here is a guy as long as

it is saturday morning in japan. the sun is up and the extent of the catastrophe is becoming painfully clear. it's been nearly 24 hours since a powerful earthquake touched off a huge tsunami that swept across japan's east coast. the quake, a magnitude 8.9, was the fifth-largest in modern history. centered off japan's northeast coast, it was felt for 1,300 miles. very early reports say more than 400 people are dead. japan's kyoto news agency says the final number is expected to top 1,000. most of the victims drowned. nearly 1,000 are reported injured, more than 500 are missing. and four million homes and businesses lost power. the first estimate of the damage: $10 billion. that damage includes a nuclear reactor in northeastern japan. radiation levels are soaring and the area is being evacuated. most flights between the u.s. and japan have been canceled, and there were fears the tsunami would pound the u.s., but by the time the waves reached hawaii and the west coast this morning, they had lost most of their punch. pre

>>> disaster in japan. the crisis from friday's catastrophic earthquake and the tsunami that followed gets worse and worse. the death toll is surging. engineers are battling an expanding nuclear crisis that has forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. the japanese armed forces are aiding in the search for thousands of missing. millions are without power or heat. and food and water are in short heat. and food and water are in short supply. captioning funded by cbs >>> good morning, everyone, on a very busy monday. i'm terrell brown in for betty nguyen. three days after the fact the earthquake disaster in japan continues to snowball. the death toll from the nuclear and humanitarian crisis all growing this morning. here's the latest. it's now estimated that at least 10,000 people were killed by friday's massive quake and the tsunami that followed. tens of thousands are missing. early this morning, there was another explosion at a nuclear plant 150 miles north of tokyo. and a third reactor is in jeopardy

here now a look at the images in japan. in the hardest hit corner of japan, survival. in the middle of so much destruction and loss, hope. a group of kindergartners rescued, stranded aboard a boat. now back on land. treating their injuries on the spot. today, growing worries about those who hadn't been found. lists of evacuees were posted at local shelters. >> my husband hasn't come here yet. he left home a little later than me. our house was swept away. >> on the roof of one hospital the staff used towels and sheets to spell out a simple desperate plea. 300 people help. and elsewhere, a young woman says she's glad to be alive. >> we are all right. i'm relieved that my baby was not harmed. >> and that is nbc "nbc nightly news" for this saturday night. i'm lester holt reporting from tokyo japan. i will see you back here tomorrow, on "today". thank you for watching everyone. and good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good evening. i'm diane dwyer. we begin with more fallout from the magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami in japan. tonight another reactor has

still, japan will rebuild, even if it takes many years. the devastation is likely to tip japan into another recession in the near term. but economist nariman behravesh predicts reconstruction will ultimately give the economy a nice boost. >> at the end of this year and through next year, it could add as much as half to maybe even a full percentage point to growth of the japanese economy. so, it's actually going to be good news starting in about the third quarter. >> reporter: what will japan need to rebuild? in a word, "everything." japan does not produce any raw materials, and it will have to buy everything from iron ore to large scale machinery. urban planner and professor rae zimmerman says rebuilding japan will be one of the most difficult tasks the world has ever faced. >> one of the main challenges is rebuilding our infrastructure and housing and actually getting people to come back to an area that may be contaminated with radiation. this is going to be very unique to this situation. >> reporter: the rebuilding is expected to cost at

when the last earthquake hit in japan.ommunity center raised about $600,000 in food, clothing, and money to send to japan. as soon as we heard word of the current earthquake and tsunami, we opened a fund. because it happened over the weekend, we haven't been able to gather as a group to decide what we're going to do in the future. tomorrow, we'll get together and discuss the plans we're going to have. >> that's going to include some of the business owners in the area. community members, and anyone who wants to be a part of it? >> soom of the community members will get together first, and we'll let the community know. >> reporter: have some people come to the community center trying to locate family members, or asking for help looking for family members? is the consulate involved in that as well? >> the consulate is very heavily involved. the center was immediately inundated with hundreds of calls, asking how they can help and find relatives and friends in japan. >> reporter: thank you for stepping aside, and talking to us

or russia has been pledging help and support in stricken japan sending crews of emergency workers and eight episodes the first earthquake triggered blast assays company that is out of the house more moscow's involvement. russia has sent a number of emergency ministry personnel to japan and they're working in any number of locations we know that a lot of other them have already arrived in japan and have basically brought every kind of gear with them to be completely utmost independent or at least two weeks that everything it. says is basically necessary to help with that i believe that assistance or so look for survivors that may still sound under the rubble at the sun all the time has left moscow yesterday that's monday heading that warship that was agent and that was a person out deal specifically with the radiation affected areas so all in all the agency this seat is expected to have at least a hundred people working in japan doing everything necessary everything in their power to give assistance where it may be needed as mr russia knows firsthand experience how difficult it is and

the nuclear crisis in japan getting worse. a safety official there says technicians cannot keep a waste fuel cool from boiling over. it's at the fukushima plant 150 miles north of tokyo. the water is supposed to be kept cool to prevent spent fuel rods from resuming nuclear reactions. a third explosion rocked the earthquake-damaged plant yesterday. fuel rods inside the reactor are heating up. they are causing a buildup of hydrogen gas. that's what's causing that explosion. the u.s. agency that protects america's nuclear weapons has deployed a team of experts to monitor radiation risks there. reportedly this team and crew from lawrence livermore labs. the japanese government warning people to evacuate within a 19-mile radius. the bay area expert says it's too early to tell what the impact on japan will be. >> well, at this point in time it's very hard to catch any situation. the risk is that we see more radiation released from the nuclear power plants, but at this point we don't have sufficient information to assess where it's g

so for now this is next with a recap of what's going on in japan. review the latest in science technology from the realms. we've got the future.

this is true noble on steroids this is this will be worse than shwe and japan it struggles to avert a nuclear meltdown because attempts to cool the reactors of the fukushima power plant bring a no immediate success three of the scale of the disaster is being played down. the i.a.e.a. has absolutely no ability to deal with this problem any more than the japanese government has the ability to deal with this problem the head of the un a nuclear watchdog finally heads to japan and that criticism of the atomic agency has failed to get on top of the crisis. the unfolding of fukushima disaster could severely damage the image and the bank account of the u.s. for who designed the station india has already rethinking its business dealings with general electric and in other news. as more market that he continues to regain control of libya from the opposition russia pauses for a cease fire resolution in the u.n. security council after having declared. it with r.t. live from moscow where it's now just after five pm. struggling to regain control of the overheated reactors at the tsunami damaged fuk

on edge. >> good afternoon from japan. there are new pictures showing the human drama after this horrible, horrible earthquake. for the first time in way we've never seen before, we're getting a look at the death, the destruction and the lack of basic supplies in the quake zone like food, water and gasoline. japan is about 10% simultaneoussimultaneous , 10% smaller than california. >> the destruction extends as far as the eye can see and almost incomprehensible landscape. emergency workers aided by 100,000 japanese troops, pulling out more bodies today. there are a few survivors left to find. japan hasn't seen anything like this since world war ii. friday's tsunami inundated communities, shattered minutes before by the most powerful earthquake japan has ever seen. for the living, a nightmare. million are without without water, and electricity. the trauma on people's faces is plain to see. hospital and shelters are completely overwhelmed. many roads are impassable. train service in many parts of the country is nonexistent.

well moscow is sending aid and rescuers to japan to help with the. quake and tsunami as well as to prepare for potential for a long russian's foreign minister visited the japanese embassy here to express his condolences not his company knows a lot of it joins us live now from the capital with more see cavalryman how exactly is russia and. all the russian foreign minister as you said visited the japanese embassy today signing the condolences also offering assistance to the japanese people of course russia has already sent a number of its emergency ministry personnel to egypt and of we know that a plane left here from moscow carrying specialists on board who are helping to search for survivors that may still be very alive under the rubble that of course again following the earthquake many buildings were destroyed with hundreds of people feared to be trapped under the rubble we know that another helicopter left from the russian far east also making its way towards japan the russian foreign minister of course expressing his condolences and expressions ru

in japan. biggest ever to hit the country. >> these are pictures of the news room in downtown tokyo. nhk news ramp. watch the shaking hear as people l this is in i thought this was downtown tokyo. you may be right. oh, yes. l and again this was physician reported as 7. 9 the highest in the japanese scale. they say 8.4 and latest it was an 8.9 but we know the number is going to change. >> you can certainly see how everything is moving and the building and as dan mentioned we saw very similar pictures in tokyo as well. newsroom there 240 miles away from the epicenter also shaking greatly. >> we commented earlier dedicated to scrap niece journalist at their post. even as the shaking goes on they try to get the job done and get information out to their viewing public. >> this is news ramp in tokyo into you are absolutely right but again we notice hard at work because this is a crisis and want to keep everyone informed as best they coy. we understand san mateo county activated the office of emergenc

in southern japan on saturday morning. the meteorological agency has a says aftershocks could follow. e scale of the death and hour.ction in japan is getting at least 573 people have died and more than 740 others are missing. miyagi was a tsunami pounded sendai city washing inland ten kilometers. police say 200 to 300 tiods have been found. in other parts of miyagi prefecture, 62 people have been confirmed ad rescue and identification s bng slowed because much of the area is under water. a fire has engulfed much of the bay area. thfi dasr management agency says the flames may have been sparked after oil leaked in nghring fukushima a uni. prefecture, 91 people have been confirmed dead and more than 480 are missing. tna hhe than 7.3 meters hit a port in the prefecture. wide stretches of the coastline iwata prefecture, at least 191 people have been confirmed dead. more than 200 others are reported missing following a tsunami. in tokyo and neighboring prefectures, 29 people have died, some after being hit by falling deis thumr

but japan has been sluggish for a long time. and meanwhile the rest of the world this is all happening at a time when the rest of the world is actually getting a lot stronger. so it does, it does make me feel as though there is continued upside potential in the market. we haven't changed our strategy at the jpmorgan private bank. but i do think that investors who are sitting on the sidelines with a lot of cash are being presented with an opportunity to buy stocks when they're on sale. >> susie: so what is the opportunity? you said american companies. what types of american companies. i know you can't name names but what types of companies should investors be looking for? >> well, susie, this has been an extraordinary recession and now recovery with corporate balance sheets so strong and companies held back there capital spending in the earliest stages of the recovery. but now companies are increasing their capital spending materially and i think that presents an opportunity for investors in industrial shares as an example. i als

disaster in japan. a massive military relief and recovery operation is under way in japan this morning, after that 8.9 magnitude earthquake that devastated the island. >>> an explosion at a nuclear power plant has raised fears of a meltdown. hundreds are dead, and that number will most certainly rise. we have full coverage "early" this saturday morning, march we have full coverage "early" this saturday morning, march 12th, 2011. captioning funded by cbs >>> video from less than 30 hours ago in japan, devastating earthquake, 8.9 magnitude. at this hour the official death toll almost 600. and there are other big problems looming this morning. welcome to "the early show" on this saturday morning, i'm russ mitchell. >> and i'm rebecca jarvis. we will continue to follow this story as it develops throughout the morning. >> let's get right to the earthquake in japan, of course. the quake is the fifth largest in recorded history. it was followed by a 23-foot high tsunami. the official death count is 574 dead. t

reports to know what the people of japan are experiencing now. it was a strange sense of vertigo ceilings were caving in the first thing i did a rush to my daughters i grabbed the older one while my wife took our newborn rushed into the street thank god we're live on the first floor. you re too was lucky to back here quickly but dozens of their friends were buried alive thanks. to the incentive to go several locals were in a car with us we arrived and there was nothing attorneys no longer women start hauling in their fists and can say a word or used to be streets with houses have been turned into just awful if you will then have to go risk earthquake was russia's most destructive in a hundred years over two thousand people die at the town was never a built but the sea snake station was real it was shut down shortly after the collapse of the soviet union and yuri was left without charge but the earthquake changed all that not only was the station reinstated dozens of new ones had been built these time small school calls you read several times a da

earlier just a few hours ago japan's nuclear safety commission. there's a possibility that the nuclear plant could experience a meltdown so they're checking on whether the a meltdown have taken place will take place or what the what the consequences what the actual state of it is right now at the fukushima daiichi plant so earlier just to remind you japan's nuclear safety commission had said that there is a possibility of the melt out of the nuclear power plant this again is a result of the cooling system of the rationing down after the earthquake the cooling system is a necessity here just to give you an idea of how these things work the reactors cool remain very hot although they have been shut down after the earthquake for safety reasons the reactors remain hot and need cooling and it is the cooling system not working that is creating this a danger of danger of explosions danger of radiation levels still going higher right now it's reported to be at a thousand times normal levels this is very worrying especially for the people living within the

in japan at this moment.workers at the stricken fukushima nuclear plant are scrambling to prevent a meltdown. operators say a partial meltdown probably occurred in at least one reactor. fears are growing that the radioactive molten mass could penetrate the steel hull and potentially lead into the environment. the japanese emperor said he was deeply worried by the crisis in japan during a rare address to the nation. hundreds of thousands of people are still facing food and water shortages, and now snow and ice are hampering rescue efforts. >> stay tuned. after a short break, i will have more international news for you. >> welcome back. the son of gaddafi says government forces have all but retaken the main rebel base of benghazi. he said military operations were over and that the city would fall within 48 hours. forces loyal to gaddafi have retaken a string of coastal towns in the last 11 days, reversing gains made by the rebel army. >> with his forces advancing across the country, libyan leader gaddafi celebr

joining us well we go straight to our developing a story a major tsunami has struck a northeastern japan a sending a four meter of wall of water inland which is causing widespread devastation now this tsunami was this which is currently under way was caused by eight point nine magnitude earthquake that struck about one hundred thirty kilometers off the pacific coast aftershocks have been felt within the last few minutes and so far five people are confirmed dead but that number is expected to rise as officials are having a bit of a hard time getting exact numbers of casualties now you can see on your screen that's a huge wall of water just eating up anything in its past that's the latest pictures we're getting from of japan and it's also been reported that the first waves have reached russia's crude. real islands to the north and it's reportedly about a metre high well in japan itself two hundred people have reportedly been washed away with several others missing on japan sendai island that is on the eastern coast it closest to where the earthquake had hit the damage was also felt in toky

the japan road traffic information center, the japan road information center and police say expressways around tokyo and north eastern japan have been closed. the japan road traffic information center and police say expressways have been closed. according to the elevator, it assumes that most elevators came to a holt in the region affected by the disaster. according to the elevator, it assumes most elevators came to a halt, affected by the disaster. at the moment, the company has been collecting information about mechanical shuttles. >> now again, you are listening to live and watching live coverage from nhk japanese television network of the 8.8 earthquake that is struck the area. you can see tsunami waves sweeping into farmland in the area, which is 240 miles from tokyo. right now, we have no confirmed reports of injury or death, but we have been able to verify through these live images that there are in fact fires. we do know there has been fires as far away as tokyo, which is 240 miles away from the epicenter and those waves continue to devour this area. this is an absolutely unbeli

this morning we are following the latest out of japan. in the wake of last week's quake and tsunami. the latest 2800 people confirmed dead following that tragedy. the death toll shot up after about 1,000 bodies were washed up on the miyagi coastline. a second explosion caused by a buildup of hydrogen has rocked a japanese nuclear facility. people living nearby staying indoors. last night's blast sent a column of smoke into the air. 11 workers were hurt. these explosions are fueling question here at home about whether our own plants are safe in the event of a massive earthquake. today in the east bay, tracy potts reports from washington. >> put the brake on right now until we understand the ramifications of what's happened in japan. >> reporter: there are 104 nuclear plant in the u.s., about a quarter designed like those under a state of emergency in japan. the nuclear regulatory commission insists each american plant is built to withstand the most severe shocks. at least four more are on the drawing board. president obama is asking for $3

during fighting talks for japan's prime minister but i can. bring that as a have more from the capital. we know that people in moscow have been flooding to the japanese embassy bringing flowers lighting candles showing their support for the people of japan as they struggle this is a very difficult time various russian dignitaries on the bushels also expressed condolences and pledged support and help to the japanese government and people who know that the russian foreign minister visited the japanese embassy today signing the condolence book and also pledging support to the people of japan in this very difficult time scipio loved wolf said that russia will do everything you can to help the japanese people this is this is the russian rescue is together with rescue teams from other countries searching for those who may still be alive among the country and they're assisting with recovery efforts i very much hope that the joint efforts of the and so my international community will be able to help the people of japan and the japanese government need

japan battles to get power back to the fukushima nuclear plant to prevent further explosions. smoke seen rising from reactor number two is in jesus' day street trying to restore power to the cooling system. also this hour profile moammar gadhafi threatens retaliation if france and the u.k. grow through with their planned intervention following the u.n. security council's backing of a no fly zone. noon in moscow i imagine as are going you had today's top stories and all the day's news here on r t the race is on to restore electricity to japan street in fukushima nuclear plant so workers can then get the reactor cooling systems back on line it's been a week since the country was rocked by its worst ever earthquake triggering a tsunami and a disaster that's left thousands of people dead or missing or bad it has more from japan. right now they're still trying to reconnect power to the site so they can get those cooling systems up and running and bring the temperature down inside the reactor span seems like the only way they're now going to prevent what could be a real nuclear disa

japan's nuclear safety commission says one of the country's nuclear power plants could be going into meltdown cooling systems that several atomic reactors have failed following friday's earthquake and have reports of radioactive material has already leaked out of the quake triggered tsunami has claimed over seven hundred lives with many people missing and if you're dead. russia's emergencies ministry has prepared a six jets to really deliver doctors rescuers and medical equipment to japan should russia be able to join the possibly clear out operation of a nuclear accident in japan it can bring a certain experience to the operation as twenty five years ago it suffered at chernobyl fallout in ukraine. well you're watching our t.v. and let's go straight to our top story the japanese emergencies ministry say it says that one of the country's a nuclear power plants might be going into a meltdown well it's just a news coming in right now there are unconfirmed reports that an eyewitness has heard an explosion those are unconfirmed reports coming from japan now five reactors in the two plant