Tokyo, March 12 : The combined number of people who died or are unaccounted for in Friday's catastrophic earthquake in Japan topped 1,200 Saturday, according to a police tally.
Following are other facts relating to casulaties and damage due to quake and tsunami in Japan:
More than 215,000 people are taking refuge in emergency shelters in the east and north of the country following Friday's massive quake, Japan's national police agency tells the AFP news agency.
The local government, acting on orders from Prime Minister Naoto Kan, instructed about 3,000 residents living within a 10-kilometer radius of the No. 1 nuclear plant and within a 3-kilometer radius of the No. 2 plant to evacuate.
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The number of partially or completely destroyed buildings has now reached some 3,400, and that of fires that hit quake-affected areas totals around 200, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Meanwhile, the welfare ministry said 181 welfare facilities, including nursing homes, have been damaged.
In Iwate Prefecture, the coastal city of Rikuzentakata was virtually destroyed by a tsunami wave, with almost all of the city submerged, the agency and local police said. The coastal area of Miyako City and almost all part of town of Yamada also submerged.
Around 1,800 houses in Fukushima Prefecture were found to have been destroyed, according to the NPA.
On Saturday morning, meanwhile, several strong quakes, one with a magnitude of 6.7 at 3:59 a.m., rocked an inland area on the Sea of Japan coast northwest of Tokyo, hitting Nagano and Niigata prefectures.
Nine expressways were closed as of Saturday, while at least 312 domestic flights were cancelled.
The Tokyo police said more than 120,000 people in the capital were unable to return home Friday evening due to the suspension of train operations and because of traffic jams.
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·Elsewhere, two high-speed bullet trains were missing alongside a cruise ship carrying 100 passengers that was swept away when the wave hit. One of the trains was reported to be carrying 400 passengers.
·Between 200 and 300 bodies have been found in Sendai city, while another 151 were confirmed killed, with 547 missing. Police also said 798 people were injured.
· The tsunami struck Sendai, which has a population of about one million, on the north east coast early yesterday morning.
· Kesennuma, a town of 70,000 people in Miyagi, burned furiously into the night with no apparent hope of being extinguished, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said.
More than 300 homes were washed away in Ofunato City alone
The earthquake sparked 206 separate fires, Japanese broadcaster reports on its website.
Four trains running in a coastal area of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures remained unaccounted for, the train operator said.
It is not known how many people were aboard the trains that were running on East Japan Railway Co.'s Ofunato, Senseki and Kesennuma lines on the Pacific coast when the quake hit northern Japan.
The company said earlier that another train on the Senseki Line was found derailed near Nobiru Station after the quake. The Miyagi prefectural police today rescued nine passengers from the train by helicopter, Kyodo said.
The number of partially or completely destroyed buildings reached 3,400, while there 200 incidents of fire at quake-affected areas. Some 181 welfare facilities, including nursing homes, had been damaged.
Around 200 to 300 bodies were found in Sendai's Wakabayashi Ward, they said. Some 1,800 houses in Fukushima Prefecture were found to have been destroyed. As rescuers have not been able to completely access the tsunami-hit areas with tsunami warnings still in effect, the overall picture of the destruction remained unclear.
A municipal official of the town of Futaba, Fukushima, said, "More than 90 per cent of the houses in three coastal communities have been washed away by tsunami. Looking from the fourth floor of the town hall, I see no houses standing."
In the quake-hit areas, around 5.57 million households had lost power, while 600,000 had their water supply cut off.
Nine expressways were closed and at least 312 domestic flights cancelled. The Tokyo police said more than 120,000 people in the capital were unable to return home last evening due to the suspension of train operations and traffic jams.
Rescue teams from South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and other countries were set to arrive in Japan, after 50 nations offered support following the powerful earthquake, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. PTI
