WAVE OF DEATH

AS Japan awoke today to count the potential thousands of people killed by an apocalyptic earthquake and tsunami, engineers were fighting against time to prevent a Chernobyl-type nuclear disaster.

Japanese nuclear safety agency officials have said radiation levels inside a damaged power plant had surged to 1,000 times normal.

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake caused a cooling failure in a reactor at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, 400km north of Tokyo.

Around 45,000 people living within a 10km radius of the plant were evacuated as engineers fought to bring the reactor under control.

Pressure inside the reactor had risen to 1.5 times the level considered normal.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said it was also experiencing difficulties at another nearby plant at Fukushima-Daini. The company said the cooling systems of three reactors at that plant were malfunctioning. A company spokesman was reported as saying pressure was stable inside the reactors, but rising in the containment vessels.

Experts have warned that if cooling systems aren’t fixed, radiation could leak out into the environment, and, in the worst case scenario, could cause a reactor meltdown.

The earthquake which struck off Japan’s north-east coast toppled buildings, sparked major fires and power cuts.

The greatest havoc was wreaked by a 10-metre high tsunami which struck shortly afterwards, with a muddy torrents sweeping away people, cars and wrecked homes. The authorities said up to 300 people drowned near the coastal city of Sendai.

But the surge hit an extensive area of coastline, suggesting the final death toll will be far higher. A dam also burst in the Fukushima area, sweeping away scores of homes.

Meanwhile a major explosion occurred at a petrochemical plant in Miygai, while huge blaze swept through an oil refinery in Ichihara city. A ship carrying up to 100 people was reported missing. Some trains, including a bullet train carrying hundreds of passengers, were also reported missing.

Several powerful aftershocks hit the region last night and geologists have warned that large earthquakes could continue for many months.

Tsunami alerts were posted all around the Pacific rim.

Officials in California reported one person had drowned and three were missing after being swept out to sea by the tsunami.

Ireland’s reaction

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has sent his sympathy to the Japanese and promised that Ireland will assist them in any way it can.

“I wish to express the solidarity of the people of Ireland with the people of Japan in this moment of great trial. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost families and friends to this tragedy,” the Taoiseach told Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said that up to last night it had received no reports of injuries or deaths amongst the 2,000 Irish people living in Japan.

Of those, more than half are believed to be living in the capital, Tokyo.

Ireland’s ambassador to Japan John Neary said diplomats were following up on a number of queries.

Anybody concerned about a relative or friend living in Japan can contact the Department of Foreign Affairs crisis centre at [phone].

Picture: An earthquake-triggered tsunami sweeps inland at Iwanuma in northern Japan. The magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan’s eastern coast unleashing a 4-metre tsunami that swept boats, cars and buildings far inland. Picture: AP