CANNED goods, batteries, bread and bottled water have vanished from store shelves and long lines of cars circle petrol stations as Japan grapples with a new risk set off by last week’s earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis: panic-buying.

An earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale rocked Japan’s eastern coast today, unleashing a 33ft (10m) tsunami which swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland.

An earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale rocked Japan’s north-eastern coast today, unleashing a 33ft (10m) tsunami which swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland.

An unemployed Japanese man armed with a knife attacked school children and other passengers waiting on two buses outside a train station today in an incident that left 13 people injured.

A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.9 shook north-eastern Japan today, followed by at least three large aftershocks.

Up to 77 people in Japan – most of them chicken farmworkers – may have been infected with a mild form of bird flu, health officials said today.

A THAI boy has become the 70th Asian to die of bird flu, authorities said yesterday as reports warned a flu pandemic could cost the US economy hundreds of billions of dollars as well as millions of lives.

Japan will cull about 19,000 chickens after detecting that they were exposed to bird flu, authorities said today.

A UN agricultural expert has said that much more money is needed to stop the bird flu virus in poultry worldwide, as Vietnam – the country worst hit by the disease – confirmed its first human death in three months.

Japan will cull 170,000 more chickens after a bird flu virus from the H5 family was detected at farm north of Tokyo, a news report said today.

Ireland manager Mick McCarthy today paid tribute to fans who had travelled to Japan to cheer on his team in the World Cup.