Japan- earthquake and tsunami
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Japan has been hit by its biggest ever earthquake,
with hundreds now feared dead.
The initial quake, with a magnitude of 8.9,
struck just off the east coast, and triggered a tsunami and a series of aftershocks.
The waves, around 10 metres high,
are said to have been higher than some Pacific islands.
They've battered the northeast, causing mass devastation,
and a quake has an unusual effect on local weather systems too.
This whirlpool was filmed in Ichihara.
Some scientists say that the earth is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters,
because right now the moon is almost as close to the planet as possible.
CBS correspondent Lucy Croft spoke to us earlier from Tokyo.
The airport, as I mentioned earlier,
in Northern Japan, the major airports
Sendai airport, completely covered one of the early casualties of a huge tsunami,
The entire coast of Japan...under tsunami watch...
This is highly irregular, we've never had this...in modern Japanese history.
Meanwhile, we've been receiving some dramatic pictures,
showing the moments the quake and its aftershocks struck.
This footage, which appears to have been taken inside a bedroom,
shows the impact of the tremor.
And here you can see what happens inside a supermarket.
Around 4 million homes are without power,
while mobile phone networks across the country are also down
Fires are burning at more than 80 locations,
including this one at some oil refinery in the city of Ichihara.