it's north of sendai whereas the fukushima site is south of sendai so that would be quite a distance that would certainly indicate that if it did travel that far that there was about open measurable radiation in sendai city itself i think that there's a very conflicting reports coming out on the one hand you have the japanese government claiming that there was some melting of the fuel in the number three reactor at fukushima number one site and then you say you also have reports that they are they were in error when they said that that any of the fuel had melted i don't there's two possibilities obviously one is that dire information is being withheld in an effort to meet the situation seem better than it is and also to avoid panic but the other perhaps more likely scenario is that the government is not quite certain of the state of affairs in the reactors and so you're finding conflicting reports coming out from different spokespeople but either either scenario certainly suggests the situation is far from under control. moscow's pleasure to stand shoulder to shoulder with talk you'r

de sendai, y el temblor de 0.9.ua que pasó y llegó arrasar con todo lo que pasó el mayor número de muertes lo que se llevó a su paso había gente debajo de los escombros es el panorama que vemos en sendai, raíces de árboles completamente a arrancadas de la tierra que navegan de la costa hasta este lugar, automóviles. son esas imágenes del fuego sobre el agua, estas imágenes del avance voraz negra que avanzaba con todosin resistencia alguna. >> se escucha nada más el ruido de los helicópteros que van y vienen en la tobl ción afectada, se escuchan algunos pájaros algunas aves y lo demás es destrucción total, estamos a kilómetros, millas de la costa podemos ver hasta dónde llegó el agua, básicamente un metro poco más de un metro. en esta casa en esta barda en el estacionamiento, evidentemente no hay nadie aquí la fuerza del agua está pantalla de aluminio en dónde se estacionaba la gente vemos aquí en la pared el nivel reflejado. es la fuerza y esta es la intensidad con lo que llegó el tsunami hasta este pequeño poblado

smoke, hangs over sendai the city closest to the epicenter. a coastal community where people are now trying to escape the power of the sea. darkness has now fallen in sendai and for a second night running millions are without power. it is pitch black. have a look at this door the we're a few minutes away from the coast, and the water mark shows you how high the flood was. and look at this, the force of the tsunami almost took this front door off its hinges. inside a shattered family home. on the walls, smiling family photos and a calendar. it was a day japan will never, ever forget. >> we have angus walker on the phone now from sendai, angus, the sun has been up a couple of hours. what have you seen this morning? >> reporter: although the center of sendai is largely unaffected, structurally, there are massive cues for food, supermarkets. most petrol stations, gas stations are closed. there are lines of cars waiting at stations that are still selling fuel. everyone in this region of japan is affected even if they managed to escape the damage. w

and also vice president of sendai university.days ago, my family and i survived the fourth largest earthquake in the history of the world. >> reporter: this family are among the growing number of people who believe getting out is the safest move. >> now we realize that fukush a fukushima, 60 miles south, is a huge nuclear problem which really concerns us. we've decided to get out of town. here's our bags. we've packed up, are leaving very shortly and getting out of sendai. >> reporter: they packed their bags yesterday morning and left sendai for kyoto to stay with family. and they know they're lucky to even have this option. >> my wife, daughter and i are leaving our apartment right now and unfortunately, for the people of sendai, especially where they were hurt really badly, it's snowing right now. and that's going to hurt the people who have no housing and are without shelter. >> reporter: in their hybrid mini van, marty, his wife and their 7-year-old daughter documented the 16-hour-long journey. first stop, a gas station. >> t

in sendai, people are waiting patiently, even those in pain. bill whitaker, cbs news, sendai, japan. >> couric: nearly five days after the earthquake and tsunami the search for survivors is becoming a race against time and a continuing battle against nature with snow now in the forecast. more than 7,500 people are listed as missing while nearly 26,000 have been rescued. today an elderly woman was found alive in the northern of ichinomaki. ben tracy spent the day traveling west from sendai and is now in niigata. ben, many people have been waiting in lines trying to find out the fate of their relatives and friends. what has that been like? >> reporter: katie, in one of the towns we went to called ichinomake we saw a long line outside the red cross hospital that we assumed was people seeking medical attention but, in fact, they were actually waiting in line to go inside this tent where there were names on tables and on the walls. these were names of people who had been treated at the hospital people who were still alive but then also a list of peo

and the team over in sendai for r.t. thank you take care of yourselves well i will catch up with you later. well moscow's pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with tokyo during the crisis a plane carrying russian rescue workers is heading to japan with another jew to take off from the country's far east on monday russia's also got vital experience in dealing with the nuclear threat facing japan right now going from the world's worst atomic disaster itself early mccauley gallus hibbard spoke to our correspondents a luxury jet ski in kiev ukraine and peter oliver in moscow. the nuclear disaster taking place in fukushima is also taking main focus for russia we heard from me there in russia's far east talking about the what's being done there to make sure that it's all ok well one of the main problems that's come from. the disaster. nuclear reactor is that thirty percent of japan's energy is derived from nuclear power now that is severely depleted at the moment as you can imagine gita the situation with that nuclear reacto

>> we're still a little south of sendai. damage especially on the roads, building, surroundings. there's -- the traveling has been difficult, because some of the roads are going to be closed off going to the hardest-hit areas, especially near the coast. >> and the people are running into, what are you seeing on their faces? >> so far, the people are very resilient. >> the serious problem is there is a shortage of food and water. i think for now people have ample supply. if this runs day two, day three, without additional supplies, this could get to be a messy situation. >> as you know, the visuals of the damage are terrific. hard to absorb the scale of it. what are you hearing about the number of deaths possibly in that area? >> reporter: yeah, we're not sure about the exact number. i think that's part of the problem. it's really hard to identify really who is missing, and how do you define someone is missing, whether you just can't reach them on the phone, because phone lines are down all over the place. it's really hard to

well, that's because sendai and dallas are sister cities.rtman has more. >> reporter: we came here to dallas about as far from japan as you can get to meet the berrys who are about as asian as apple pie and do a story about this typical texas family and its very atypical attachment to one japanese community. 50-year-old mark berry says when he saw that tsunami hit the town of sendai, it was like watching it roll through his own backyard. >> i see that wave coming through just tearing those houses down, that hurts me almost as if i was there. >> reporter: mark got to know the people of sendai because the two towns are international friendship cities. dallas kids go there on exchanges, sendai kids come here. mark is chairman of the committee and has made nine trips to sendai. >> pretty much sure this is all gone. >> reporter: he has toured the local shrines and visited local high schools. >> gone? >> gone. >> reporter: in the last week, he's been trying to track down friends in sendai with mixed results. for example, there were ten kids who ca

clarissa ward, abc news, sendai. >> our thanks to clarissa ward and our team in sendai tonight. >>> of course that's just one of the cities all along the coastline that dealt with the wrath from that tsunami. tonight, christiane amanpour flies over the devastation for a first-hand look. she's here with us in japan, as well. christiane? >> reporter: david, this morning, japan is on high nuclear alert. as the government races to cool down two nuclear reactors. and the government is also racing to save lives. it has doubled its rescue operation from 50,000 personnel to 100,000. with search and rescue operations now under way in many parts of the earthquake/tsunami zone, we wonder how much of the country is effected by this kind of chaos and destruction. the helicopter's taking on fuel and we're going up to the sendai earthquake zone. japan is not a massive country, but part of that sendai area is quite remote. some of the roads have been damaged. there are mountains in the greater area around there, and that's hampering not just assessment, but also relief and the delivery of supplies. on

well here in sendai i did. open a can actually on the coast where we were just about half an hour ago when there were there were the warnings of the. need tsunamis are approaching the case we don't know how long we had to get out i don't we have to move very very fast but in the sense we know we face here from the tsunami threat here right here the panic here being shown by people lining up outside supermarkets one key we saw part of the main street market in the center of town was so long that's no exaggeration people have been queuing up overnight to try and stock up on food so people are obviously concerned that potentially the spread of radiation might mean they have to spend some time to or not the earthquake or it could lead to food shortages already there are food sources in town and in this whole prefecture in fact. yesterday we may have to travel seventy kilometers the stock up on food and. right now several of the food shortage the limiting people to five points from maximum and then having to queue u

dallas kids go there on exchanges, sendai kids come here.chairman of the committee and has made nine trips to sendai. >> pretty much sure this is all gone. >> reporter: he has toured the local shrines and visited local high schools. >> gone. gone. >> reporter: in the last week he's been trying to track down friends in sendai with mixed results. for example, there were ten kids who came to dallas in the last exchange. six are accounted for and four are not: >> i kind of feel like in this case no news is bad news. that's what i'm feeling. >> reporter: his pain really shows the power of these sister city type relationships. how they make neighbors out of people who might otherwise say they couldn't care less. >> we didn't call them japanese, we called them japs. >> reporter: mark's 82-year-old father never even knew a japanese person until mark started bringing his visitors around. >> the ones that i met i learned to love in just a very short period of time. i personally feel an obligation to help the people of sendai over there. >> reporter: t

then a two-hour drive brought us to sendai. and this, the muddied and shattered remains of homes and vehicles swept away by a tsunami that here reached around two miles inland, destroying just about everything in its path. one of the worst affected areas, this industrial and housing zone around the airport. soldiers and rescue workers scoured the area, on the ground and in the air. the authorities say they found 300 bodies in just one area close to here. we found desperate relatives, searching for missing family members. this couple looking for a sister. while others struggled to navigate around a neighborhood brutally reshaped by the force of nature. the ground has fallen by two feet up there, this man wander. you can't go that way. there's no power, no water, and what few shops remain open are being swamped. this couple searching for milk and diapers for their 1-year-old daughter. i saw the tsunami coming, her mother told me. i grabbed my baby and fled. as we filmed, panic struck the neighborhood. emergency vehicles warning t

most notably near the city of sendai. >> okay. and sendai, we know, faces the pacific.efinitely one of the larger cities in japan. so, what do you think we can be expecting to see in comparison to that indonesian tsunami? >> well, the indonesian tsunami was epic. the one that we're seeing in japan is nowhere near as big. but due to the coastal population along japan, it is going to have just devastating impact, as we have seen from many of the videos that are coming out now. >> and let me ask you this, too. we know that there are tsunami watches and warnings in other parts of the world. countries like russia, mexico, chile, peru, also in the state of hawaii. what are the likelihood that they will feel the ramifications of all of this? >> warnings have been issued for hawaii. and right about now, midway island is experiencing the tsunami coming through there, according to our information. it will be another few hours before it gets to the hawaiian islands. but they have been on alert. and they are evacuating coastal areas. but as you know, in the hawaiian islands, most o

sendai city is the largest city in that area. you know, the significant amount of people that live there, obviously it's a decent size city. and the hardest hit is obviously where the tsunami is happening, northern coast. this is the extent of what we can give you at this point. >> i understand details are scarce here and obviously officials in japan are asking people in coastal areas to evacuate, to get to higher ground. do you get a sense people are heeding those warnings? is there a movement in the country now, folks trying to get out of harm's way with tsunamis likely in all of this? >> reporter: absolutely. the one thing we can say about japan, the japanese people are very used to earthquakes. as you can imagine. any time we get any tremors out here, they are very well prepared. tsunami -- this is the largest quake i've seen in the time i have lived here, but, you know, they are definitely listening to the warnings. a lot of people are evacuating to higher ground. >> akiko, we appreciate it. the very latest from the abc bure

highs only at 7 in miako and double digits for sendai and onahama. changes friday, sunshine and highs rise up to 12 in miyako and sendai and 13 in onahama but the morning lows, so the fluctuations you want to watch out for health issues here. all right, that is a look at your weather conditions for now, and here are some other cities across asia. >>> all right this just coming in to us. japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency says radioactive iodine 4,385 times the safety standard was found in sea water near the troubled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant on wednesday. this was the highest level of the radioactive material measured so far in waters around the plant. on tuesday, the plant operator, tokyo electric power company, detected 3,355 times higher than the standard. if you're just listening in, this is breaking news, we're finding out that radioactive iodine 4,385 times the safety standard was found in sea water near the troubled daiichi nuclear plant on against. that's what japan's nuclear and industrial agency was saying, this is the highe

----esta manana amanecio con mucho frio y mucha lluvia en sendai..y en toda la costa del noreste .-----ahora despues de la emergencia del terremoto y el tsunami, japon enfrenta esta amenaza nuclear, como si fuera poco el desastre. -----seguiremos muy pendientes de la informacion que se produce desde aqui. ---- por lo pronto regresamos camaras y microfonos hasta el estudio .../// cu --ante la crisis nuclear de japon, el presidente obama ha afirmado que desea que estados unidos mejore la seguridad y el funcionamient o de sus centrales nucleares... take vo --las plantas nucleares son conocidas por resistir a ciertos niveles de terremotos, pero nada es seguro al 100 por ciento - dijo el mandatario... --las autoridades de energia atmica del pais estan analizando todas las eventualidade s para garantizar la seguridad de la poblacion. cu - anchor ---y california? ---aunque algunas autoridades del estado han dicho que el estado esta preparado para enfrentar un terremoto como el de japon, no todos estan de acuerdo... ---pilar niÑo habl hoy con un ingeniero civil que nos explic por qu ... l,

those at sendai's port are in this high school. an army commander took her children and fled it is a waves approached. she said she has been told to stay indoors and not go out in the rain. she showed us her home. it is relatively unscathed, but there is no electricity. everything is still where it was left as the family escaped. >> i'm worried about the aftershocks. there could be another earthquake. it could all happen again. as for radiation, i've been told it could come down with the rain. i'm really worried about that. >> so in the air over sendai, a city of a million, something ominous. life in this place is still out of kilter. the cues might be orderly but they stretch for a few hundred meters, shops still open and selling food. sendai's emergency coordinators struggling to cope with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. the biggest problem petrol. we don't even have enough for our rescue teams or to deliver food to the shops. so the last thing this place now needs is another disaster. the consequences could be unthi

but their houses are a to unstable to go back to what's more most of sendai is actually without any power there there's no electricity heating no water no gas and as our people are making their way and spending their nights at these relief centers furthermore there's no food in this town very little food and very little water and three hundred thousand it's reckoned that have been left homeless or fled the areas where their homes once stood they've been left with nothing they'll have another six weeks without anything to go back to and it's looking very bleak for them because all they port is literally of a patch of cardboard around one an art needed lawn and a blanket and that's all and it's a low real assurance a guarantee of food or drinking water either so it's a very bleak outlook for them now bennett in sendai rushes atomic agency says it needs further information about the situation at japan's fukushima nuclear plant despite close contact with the japanese crisis center meanwhile emergency services are on high alert in russia's far east region close to northern japan and he c

this is sendai. who knows where this house started before the quake, but there it is jammed against the gas station even more grim when you look in the back window and see the baby crib but as bad as all of this is, it's just the tip of the pending looming disaster unfolding right now. already four different nuclear reactors have exploded, caught fire in this country and evacuations have intensified within recent hours. in fact, about 50 miles south of here was the most urgent catastrophe. our own david muir was much closer than we are, about 20 miles from that reactor when it blew and abc wisely ordered him to get out of there as fast as he could and he filed this report just before he left. >> reporter: tonight yap is dealing with yet another explosion at a nuclear reactor, the third one at the fukushima power plant and there are signs tonight that this could be their most dangerous explosion yet. this is the third explosion to rock the fukushima nuclear power plant and comes as japan's government

pictures of the devastation in sendai had them fearing the worst. sabrina bendari studied with them and hosted students in her home. >> i kept sending e-mails to all of the people that we knew and i was like, i hope that you're okay. >> reporter: this morning they finally got the news they'd been hoping for. all these smiling students are alive. it's a relief, but he and his colleagues in sendai know it's the beginning of a long, painful road to recovery. >> the teacher said, it's a miracle. and he's glad. now he's standing on the start line. >> reporter: teaches there are asking for uniform and book donations so students can get back to school. but nothing will feel normal for a long time. many lost loved ones and their homes. it's a tragedy students at odyssey say is unfair. >> like their nature is so kind. like, they do not deserve this at all. >> reporter: the school's trip to sendai in may is canceled. but students are determined to help lift their spirits. >> hang in there, hold on, don't give up. >> reporter: sending encouraging messages over

this may look like a lake, but it's actually a main thoroughfare through the city of sendai. people are walking and riding through here, as if lost. this man lost his wife. he is smiling because he just got word she might have ridden out the quake and the tsunami on an upper floor of the airport. he's off to find her. this man's house is half filled with muddy water, his business washed away. "it's unbelievable," he says. "i never experienced such an earthquake." few places in the world have experienced such an earthquake. first the earth here shook then was flooded, then last night, the sky was ablaze from this massive fire at the port. tens of thousands are being housed and fed in city-run shelters, but there's hardship even here. food rations are only going to children and seniors over 75, says this woman. still today, the electricity is off for more than half a million households and businesses. there are still no phones, no water. what they do have plenty of is aftershocks and fear. some of the aftershocks are major earthquakes in their own right, six and above on the ri

as we were this the air over the sendai area, our colleague clarissa ward had reached sendai. she gives us a snapshot of what she saw while we were in the air. >> one of the first things we noticed was the amount of traffic. literally, ten-block lines of cars waiting for gas, which is now being rationed. long lines of people waiting outside of convenience stores. it's been two days since that quake. people are getting anxious that supplies are dwindling. but for the most part, this area of the city looks pretty normal. some electricity. traffic lights seemed to be functioning. it was when we hit the port area that we saw the scope of the devastation. that area felt like war zone. sirens wailing. soldiers pouring into the area trying to assess is damage. smoke billowing up into the sky. it's almost impossible to describe the level and scope of the devastation. the process of trying to get into the city turned out to be quite an epic journey. we're on our way to the city of sendai. we've been traveling 36 hours. we've been diverted through three cities. japan's internal transpor

a lot of them have friends and/or family up in that sendai-fukushima area. at least on the exterior, they're trying to act like it's business as usual, and trying to make the hotel guests as comfortable as mump as possible. diane? >> all right, thank you very much, george. in just about ten minutes, we'll go back live to george as he prepares to go to the disaster zone. he is also blogging about his experiences while he gathers and reports the latest events happening there. all you have to do is search george kiriyama on nbcbayarea.com to get the latest from him. again, we'll go back to george in just about 15 minutes. >>> first family, in the south bay is anxiously waiting to hear if their daughter is safe. she flew to japan the day before the earthquake hit and was visiting an area near the disaster. >> you're glued to the tv. you're glued to the computer. >> it's just amazing. >> reporter: the family of 25-year-old cannon purdy is desperate for any word she survived the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit japan three days ago. >> half the town is miss

sendai, air over life is still out of kilter. queues might be orderly, but they are still very long. authorities are trying to cope with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. >> the biggest problem is patrol. we do not even have enough for our rescue teams or to look deliver -- or to deliver food to the shops. >> the last thing displaced now needs is another disaster. the consequences could be unthinkable. bbc news, sendai. >> japan has appealed for expert international nuclear help. the u.s. has sent a team of 34 with specialist equipment to monitor radiation and advise on containing leaks. they will also be considering how effective the japanese response has been. david shukman has been looking at the latest efforts. >> a day after day, new threats emerge at fukushima. multiple explosions, sudden rises and radiation have seemed so hazardous that only 50 workers are on site, trying to get things under control. here is what we think is happening. reactor one -- it's a housing exploded on saturday. there probably has been p

you talk about sendai. sendai's weather is a little like washington, d.c.'s weather.d tokyo's right there. tokyo is on average, about like raleigh, north carolina's, weather. we have an area of high pressure dropping in out of russia. there's cold air behind it. look at the temperatures in sendai. 25, 28 degrees. morning temperatures below the freezing mark. and worse this, area of low pressure, starts dragging up towards the north. that brings snow into this region. snow, where they're trying to get into where the earthquakes were and where the tsunami was. it becomes critical to talk about what the cold does to your body. that brings hyperthermia when your body level drops down to 95 degrees. that leaves your heart here with the only place that has warm blood pumping in. and all your extremityies, like your arms your legs and your brain, starts to shut down because of all of the cold air. as for the nation in america, we have heavy rain that's moving through the center of the countr >>> settle in with us this morning. here's what's ahead on the "gma morning menu." w

sendai was to the a small town. it was a 15th largest city in japan so a medium size city by japanese standards. >> woodruff: two million. >> 2 million population, when are you looking at the mid have clipses a lot of what you are seeing are a number of coastal villages, fishing port, for example, that fires are at. but sendai itself is a very modern city and a large city. >> woodruff: and highly populated. >> highly populated area. >> woodruff: chris meinig, help us understand. the earthquake hit and then there was triggered this tsunami. help us understand what happened there. >> sure. the earthquake was a very large earthquake, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake that happened about one kilomete kilometer-- happened in about one kilometer of water. the tsunami was generated from this that was felt as cross the pas civic but most definite vatinging in japan itself. and we're still seeing the effects of the tsunami right now as the coast of south america will be hit by a small tsunami waves here shortly. >> woodruff: why w

in the devastated town of sendai.rrangements of homes and buildings transformed into a sea of dark mud, and a sharply defined coastline and a valley filled with homes now vanished under the slowly drawing muck and muddy water. as widespread as that damage is in northeast japan one place in particular took the hardest hit. sendai was the closest town to the epicenter of this giant quake and the tsunami got there more quickly and with more force than anywhere else. bill whitaker reports. >> reporter: sendai is the center of destruction from the earthquake and tsunami is now the center of suffering and misery. the devastation is breathtaking. wreckage, debris, mud as far as the eye can see. the horror compounded by fires erupting everywhere. this woman, trapped in a car for 20 hours. earlier, this preschool children and their teacher rescued from the water by soldiers, one by one. this is a nation of survivors. this may look like a lake but it's actually a main thoroughfare through the city of sendai. people are walking

they are actually leaving sendai city. they are heading south towards tokyo. others are trying to get ahold of maxxam the -- magnesium iodine tablets. there's still a lot of fear and nervousness every time the ground trembles, there are aftershocks, there are tsunami warnings. this is very much a nation trying to come to terms with the colossal loss of the last few days. but the main headlines this hour on "bbc world news." japan is appealing for international help as technicians struggled to cool -- to " overheating in the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. they warned a meltdown as possible. work is being hampered by aftershocks and fears of a second tsunami. the desperate efforts to control the situation of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have raised a serious question about a major radiation leak and the risks to anyone nearby. we have david shukman on the dangers. >> and near the nuclear power station today, as seen most people would dread. a test for radioactive contamination. the key question is whether the risks are escalating the power station took

either there's reporting that from sendai account as well of the region worst hit by the tsunami and there's just unease authorities trying to deal with the danger of a meltdown at the nuclear plant international. visitation stabilizing russia's atomic energy agency was asked and says however that there's not enough information to that for the reactor safety so meanwhile and that is a sad says on high alert in russia aspire east region close to northern japan because you know gotcha always in the area. michel's insecure you say that radiation levels remain normal in russia spore is ever since then you can't hold lawns in fukushima was hit by an explosion they've been monitoring levels closely we can even check the radiation levels for ourselves this is the so-called geiger counter and this is used in professional states nickel gora trays by the emergences ministry and also by other specialized services it measures relation levels around and it is showing is jumping between two and three micros per hour this is way less than the average in moscow for example and also as a comparison a

after an explosion rocks a nuclear power plant in the city of sendai. this morning the evacuation around the plant is being exp d expanded, but it's still unclear just how much radiation is in the air and how dangerous the leak is to people. good morning and thank you for joining us. five nuclear reactors are under a state of emergency after that blast in sendai. the explosion happened this morning after the reactor's cooling system failed. it's just the latest emergency to confront the people of japan as they wake up to an uncertain future. there is of course widespread destruction in japan after the massive 8.9 quake and tsunami. and here's what we know right now. at least 574 people are confirmed dead. although local media reports say as many as 1,300 people may have been killed in friday's double disaster. 586 people are confirmed missing and more than 1,100 people are injured. now it's a disaster that reaches halfway around the world that has caused damage right here in the bay area. we have team coverage this morning on the quake and tsunami in ja

imagine being in this office in sendai when this happened. nor -- for a moment they freeze, immobilized by panic. then, a frantic scramble for shelter. and the quake goes on and own and own. for hundreds of miles around, office blorkss shopping centers, and homes were shaken from their foundations up, spreading terror. >> when it really started to get seriously shaking i thought, i could quite possibly die now. i don't know if i can get down the stairs in time to reach the bottom floor. my wife screamed down my ear because she was working in one of the buildings in tokyo. >> japanese people are taught from early age that earthquakes are part of life and from an early age the training kicks in at a vital moment. but more destructive still was the awesome power unleashed in the depths 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 inland, it becomes a vast, silty churn. these are agriculture tunnels being swallowed up. there are cars, shipping c

normally from tokyo to sendai, it is about a six-hour journey. it has taken our team about 20 hours to get there. >> reporter: many gas stations are closed. lines stretch for mile that are open. once basic supplies are distribute, there will be another crisis. a mental health crisis. >> one of the things we have to work on after the immediate relief was post-traumatic stress that people are feeling out there. >> reporter: osaki said people in japan will need help recovering from this tragedy for years. >> reporter: the japanese cultural and community center is sending donations to nonprofits in japan with the hope they can deliver aid quickly. large scale fundraisers are in the works in the bay area. reporting live in r. nbc bay area news. >> much will be needed. developing news out of marin county, a man barricades himself inside a bank of america. how that conflict ended a short time ago and why his money problems have turned into legal problems. >>> the problems of radiation. the radiation levels on the rise. we'll go back to japan and continu

within seconds the scene in sendai changed dramatically.icials reported another explosion at the fukushima nuclear facility. >> we are at a reactor tipping point. either over the next 24 to 48 hours they'll get control of these reactors or they'll get meltdown at one or more reactors. a completely unprecedented situation. >> reporter: minutes earlier, warnings of a possible second tsunami, a false alarm, but no less frightening. the impact of the explosion was not immediately clear but the message from survivors of the initial disaster was. s.o.s., help. however, the mission to deliver that help has not been easy. one dramatic rescue was successful. elderly passengers pulled from their car, where they had been trapped for 20 hours with no food or water. but for too many, it's too late. hundreds of bodies have washed ashore, thousands more still missing. homes merely memories. those who survived are finding basic necessities nearly impossible to buy. this mother says, i was so stressed that i could not produce breast milk. i didn't know what

>> couric: bill whitaker reporting from sendai, japan tonight, bill, thank you. outside sendai along the coast, many smaller towns and villages exist now in name only. ben tracy shows us how natori, once a thriving farming town, has been turned into a wasteland. >> reporter: more than three days now after the earthquake hit and the tsunami roared through natori city, the homes are still smoldering and this is basically all that is left of this town that was once home to about 74,000 people, many of them farmers. now it's basically deserted. emergency vehicles are the only traffic on the roads and this man is one of the only people left in town. everyone else is gone because so are their homes. this used to be a neighborhood. now it's simply a debris field. these were houses. >> yes. >> reporter: now they're all gone. >> all gone. nothing. >> reporter: our driver used to take this street when he drove his family to the beach. he can't believe what's happened. >> the tsunami. >> reporter: then the tsunami came through. >> they cannot climb away to escape. >> report

in sendai, japan right now.ent is right there near the fukushima nuclear reactor. tough situation. to think about going back there at this point. probably not the best idea. >> no, it is rough. we are following a number of other headlines for you this morning. jeff glor is standing by at the news desk with a look at those for us. >> good morning, everyone. and forces, moammar gadhafi have reportedly retaken the key oil port of brega in libya this morning. libyan jets this morning also launched air strikes in the rebel held town of it ajdibiya. rebels in brega were one of the strongest groups opposed to gadhafi. gadhafi did meet with diplomats yesterday from india, russia and china. he wants investment from their countries in libya's oil industry. >>> libya tops the agenda today for secretary of state hillary clinton who arrived in paris this morning. she'll meet with representatives of the anti-gadhafi rebels and with european officials who favor establishing a no fly zone in libya. tomorrow she flies into cairo

a couple of showers are possible in sendai tonight, but it does stay warm. on thursday, too, mostly it is going to be sunshine. now, there is the chance of a brief shower or even some snow flurries in sendai later on thursday night, but it it shouldn't be anything too major. now sunshine is expected, but here we're not ruling out a chance of an isolated shower event or two as we head into afternoon hours of thursday. you want to watch out for that. we have been talking about these isolated showers, but they're really brief and small and a lot of dry days ahead, so dry wlvr advisories have been issued and fire risk is high for the areas in the pacific coastline here. the shelter is using a lot of fire for cooking as well as for heating. you want to take care as you head out to these events. that's a look at your weather conditions for now, and i'll be back with updates later on. >>> miyagi prefecture was mitt hard. this footage of the port taken wednesday morning shows the devastation caused by the double natural disaster. boths were swept inland and lined de

harry smith in sendai this morning.owed last week's earthquake has caused extensive damage in the u.s. it turns out. a california official now estimates the damage to harbors and boats in california is more than $40 million. after that tsunami hit hawaii on friday, the cost estimates there have jumped into the tens of millions of dollars. that includes damage to homes, businesses, hotels, and boats. >>> it was once touted as strong competition for apple's ipod. it now appears microsoft's zune is done. it says it is not offering a new version of that device. instead they'll put the zune software and other microsoft platforms. it was introduced five years ago. >>> the rock 'n' roll hall of fame adds eight new members. that includes alice cooper, who performed a medley of his hits last night here in new york at the waldorf astoria. other members include neil diamond. yeah, erica likes that. leon russell, tom waist, dr. john and darlene love. they were joined for last night's finale on stage. ♪ ♪ the do run run ♪ the do run

artes over bennett they're reporting from sendai the capital of the worst hit area in the tsunami. russia's atomic agency says it needs further information about the situation in japan's fukushima nuclear plant that's despite close contact with the japanese crosses center meanwhile emergency services are on high alert in russia's far eastern region close to northern japan r.t. to katrina which over is in the area. at the shows and say that radiation levels remain normal in russia's war against ever since then you can have hope want in fukushima was hit by an explosion they've been warning torrent levels closely we can even check the radiation levels for ourselves this is the so-called geiger counter this is used in professional safe legal war trays by the emergences ministry and also by other specialized services it measures radiation levels around and it is showing is jumping between two and three micros for hour these is way less than the average in moscow for example and also as a comparison a passenger flying on a plane from moscow to where the bus stop receives as many as twen

this is jr senseki sen, a part of the sendai metropolitan area has now the railway service. and this is very comfortable because this man says that he had to walk all the way to the office. as for the railways, tohoku shinkansen is going to restart the operation by the end of next month. but the coastal lines will have more time for the all-out recovery. and this is ri kuchlt zen that kata city. an ad hoc city assembly. devastated and washed away by tsunami so, they moved the location here. the assembly start with silent prayer to the victims. 19 assembly members. out of 19 one passed away and one is still missing. mayor mr. hitoshi toba convened the first meeting after the disaster said this is going to be a long fight but asked that the cooperation of the assembly members to tide over their hardship and keep fighting for the stability and recovery of citizens' livelihood. this is the sports center of yamagata city that many people from the fukushima prefectures are taking refuge. the players of soccer j yamagata visited in this shelter in order to encourage the students by

that's why i have left sendai i'm scared for my baby and i don't want him to get ill it can have a very negative impact on him on a train to tokyo it was more of the same the stories does change his flight out to the earliest of able to get this. deal. when it comes to radiation the people i've met year aren't sure the government's telling the full story and most aren't willing to wait around to find out either bennett artsy tokyo. be official number of those killed in japan's catastrophic quake and tsunami has now reached five and a half thousand nine thousand others however remain unaccounted for our correspondents are at the center of events and reporting on what's happening all around them. first time experiences on our twitter page. about the enormous lines of parked cars all across the country with the owners being desperate for petrol. updates as well and today's other news on a japan's crisis loans you are to me underscore. energy adviser on all the gunderson says that while the japanese government may be seeking to downplay the scale of the nuclear crisis that doesn't change th

that's why i have left sendai i'm scared for my baby and i don't want him to get you know it can have a very negative facts on him on the train to tokyo it was more of the same these stories does change his flight out to the earliest of able to get this. deal. when he comes the radiation the people i've met year on shore the governments telling the full story and most aren't willing to wait around to find out either bennett fartsy tokyo. or the death toll from japan's catastrophic quake and tsunami has reached almost five thousand seven hundred over nine thousand others remain unaccounted for still and our correspondents are at the center of events and reporting on our what's happening around them you can get their first heard experiences on our twitter page you can i learn about the officers advise and also wear masks to protect themselves from the growing radiation. as a place of there also today's other news are on japan's crisis you can find all of that a lot of items if you look at our underscore. and if you advise us on all the gunderson says that while the japanese government m