TOKYO (Dow Jones)--A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9 struck Japan Friday afternoon, causing damage in Tokyo, many reported injuries in the north where the quake was centered and sending a tsunami hurtling toward the country's northeastern coast.The yen and Tokyo stocks fell, while Japanese government bond futures gained. The quake, originally reported at a magnitude of 7.9 but later upgraded to 8.9 apparently exceeding the 8.9 quake that struck off Chile in February 2010.
Local television reported smoke rising from a Tokyo port building, and fire in the capital's waterfront Odaiba district. There were reports of "numerous" injuries in Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan where the quake was centered, as a tsunami measured at anywhere from one meter to 4.2 meters hit at various places along the coast.
A tsunami warning included Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Guam, the Northern Marianas, the Marcus Islands and the Wake Islands,indonesia while 15 nations and territories were covered by a tsunami watch.
In Tokyo, hundreds of concerned office workers tried in vain to make calls on jammed cellphone networks, some wearing hard hats and other protective headgear. Many of them streamed out of buildings in the business district, gathering in open areas. The crowd appeared spooked by the sound of glass windows rattling in tall buildings.
Aftershocks were continuing, with one hitting magnitude 7.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tall buildings swayed violently in central Tokyo as the aftershocks hit.
NHK Television reported that water could be seen rising over cars and pouring into warehouses at Onahama port in Fukushima Prefecture; in Iwate Prefecture a building was washed away, with boats and cars swirling around in the rising waters.
The governor of Miyagi Prefecture asked for Japanese military forces to be sent in to help, Kyodo News Service reported. The quake was centered 130 kilometers to the east of the prefecture's capital, Sendai. The Defence Ministry was sending eight fighter jets to check the damage, the agency said.
Tokyo's major airports halted flights. All Tokyo area trains appeared to have been halted, while the shinkansen bullet train service was suspended.
Two nuclear plants on the Pacific coast in Fukushima Prefecture were automatically shut down, according to Kyodo.
The Bank of Japan set up a disaster control team, headed by BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, and said it would do all it could to supply liquidity to the market. The government set up a task force at the Prime Minister's Office.
The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average closed 1.7% lower, the U.S. dollar rose to around Y83.30 from Y82.80 earlier and June JGB futures ended 0.66 higher at 139.20 points, having hit an intraday high of 139.90 just after the quake.
"The impact in the currency exchange market was a bit magnified because the overall market flow was thin. Now we'll pay attention to damage situations and if this is going to have a big negative impact on the domestic stock markets, the yen will keep weakening ahead," said Mitsuru Sahara, a senior dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Analysts from Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service both said it was too early to say how the quake might affect the country's credit ratings.
Richard Jerram, a Singapore-based economist at Macquarie Securities with long experience in Japan, said that while the scale of damage was hard to predict, "the most obvious concern is the debt market. That's going to be the thing to watch."
Japan's political logjam won't likely be a problem, as "you're obviously going to get a cooperative approach," he said.
indonesia government give warning in the north indonesia to left coast, japan tsunami is forwarded to indonesia and another country ...
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