AFP
March 14, 2011, 1:19 am
Towns wiped off the map
Wastelands of mud and debris stretch along Japan's coast where towns and villages used to be as the cleanup begins.
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SENDAI, Japan (AFP) - Wastelands of mud and debris now stretch along Japan's northeast coast where towns and villages used to be, consumed by a terrifying tsunami triggered by Japan's biggest ever earthquake.
The port town of Minamisanriku was practically obliterated, with over half of its 17,500 population unaccounted for after huge waves inundated the area following the 8.9 magnitude quake, a hospital one of few structures remaining.
For the lucky ones, such as some residents in Kamaishi city, tsunami evacuation sirens came quickly enough for them to scramble up to higher ground before watching in horror as the raging sea tore through their homes.
The sheer power of the water tossed cars like small toys, and upturned lorries that now litter the roads in Sendai city where the haunting drone of tsunami sirens had echoed into the cold air amid the disaster.
Dislodged shipping containers piled up along the coastline and swathes of mangled wreckage consumed what used to be rice fields. Related article: People turn ever more to web in times of crisis
Otomo Miki was with her three children, her husband and the children's 82 year-old grandfather when the earthquake hit. They managed to get to the family car and drive to safety before the tsunami roared through the city.
"I had to keep zig-zagging around people and water to get to safety," she said. "We've lost our house and we have no idea what's going to happen next."
Her older sister was in a bus when the wave crashed through.
"The bus driver told everybody to get out of the bus and run," Miki said. "My sister got out but some people just couldn't run fast enough," she said, adding that they were swept away in the waves. Related article: Quake moved Japan by 8 feet: USGS
As Sendai city endured a pitch-black night amid a power blackout, Sendai Teishin Hospital spokesman Masayoshi Yamamoto told AFP the building was able to keep its lights on using its own power generators, drawing in survivors.
Around 50 people arrived looking to shelter from the cold night air in the lobby of the downtown Sendai city hospital on Saturday night, he said.
"Many of them are from outside Miyagi prefecture, who had visited some patients here or came in search of essential medicines," he told AFP, adding that people were without electricity and water.
But with water supplies cut, Yamamoto said hospital officials were worried about how long its tank-based supply would last. The hospital may also run out of food for its patients by Monday.
"We have asked other hospitals to provide food for us, but transportation itself seems difficult," he said.
A 500 metre high plume of smoke was seen billowing up into the air from the port in Sendai. A petrochemical complex there has been hit by fire and explosions since the quake struck.
People calmly queued for food baskets, while the shelves of convenience stores were stripped bare. Four-hour-long queues of cars snaked out of petrol stations serving fuel rations.
"My house was washed away but I escaped with just one bag," said Sayuri Aizawa, 64, whose pensioner husband and 36-year-old son were travelling together in the car.
"Our evacuation centre is overcrowded with people. My husband and I managed to secure blood pressure drugs for 10 days."
With no running water or electricity available, a number of stand pipes were set up outside schools and other buildings where people have taken shelter, and people were pumping by hand to fill buckets of water.
Rescue workers in Sendai picked through the debris but on many occasions the job was only one of recovery, as teams of workers pulled bodies out of the horrific tangle of wood and rubble, placing them in green bags and into vans.
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