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CNN Saturday Morning News
Special Coverage: Quake Tsunami Disaster; Evacuation Zone Around Damaged Nuclear Reactors Continues to Increase; 45 Countries Pledge Support, Rescue Efforts to Help Japan; Properly Managing Large- Scale Rescue Efforts; Social Media as Lifeline; Video, Messages From Moment of Destruction
Aired March 12, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: The day after the most powerful earthquake ever to rock Japan, we're getting a better idea of the size and scope of the disaster; it is massive and heartbreaking. Japan's prime minister putting the call out for help and the United States responding. We'll tell you how.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And this morning, a dangerous new threat, an explosion and a leak from one of Japan's damaged nuclear power plants.
The world is watching, it's waiting, it's ready to help.
KAYE: From CNN Center in Atlanta, it's March 12th, I'm Randi Kaye.
STEVENS: And I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. We'd like to welcome viewers in the United States and around the world to our special coverage of the disaster in Japan.
KAYE: It is now 10:00 at night in Japan. Most rescue operations have stopped, but the concern over more aftershocks, even more tsunamis remains.
There have been more than 180 aftershocks since the 8.9 earthquake and massive tsunami struck northeastern Japan's coast.
At least 900 people are dead, 700 more missing, an undetermined number injured. Early rescue efforts were difficult because of the aftershocks. Plus, there have been tsunami warnings sounded more than twice in the northeastern Japan area.
Highways in that part of Japan are damaged and utility services such as water and electricity are out for hundreds of thousands of people.
The quake triggered a tsunami more than 23 feet high that washed over the Japanese coastline traveling six miles inland.
This is the largest quake in recorded history to hit Japan and the seventh largest worldwide since recordkeeping first began.
CNN has correspondents in Japan and even more headed there. In four minutes, we'll take you live to Sendai, a city of about one million, about 80 miles from the quake's epicenter.
STEVENS: Every time I see the pictures of that tsunami roaring relentlessly it's just chilling.
We also want to bring you up to date now another very serious situation involving a nuclear energy plant damaged by the quake. An explosion happened at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture, which collapsed the roof over one of the nuclear reactors.
CNN's Stan Grant is in Tokyo.
Stan, we know the area around that plant has now been evacuated, has actually calmed the fears of a nuclear leak or has actually added to it?
STAN GRANT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this evacuation zone has been increasing throughout the day, which has raised concerns about just how great the threat is and is that threat also increasing.
First, it was a bit over a mile, three kilometers. Then, it was 10 kilometers, about six miles. It's been doubled now to 20 kilometers. So that has been increasing along with the threat, along with the attempts and the foiled attempts so far to be able to bring any impact on these reactors that are overheating. They haven't been able to get the coolant in there to try to cool this down.
Of course, that was affected after power supply was knocked out by the earthquake yesterday. It really reached a peak this nuclear emergency with the explosion this afternoon. Four people were injured. We're still awaiting news about just how seriously.
But we understand now, according to the Nuclear Safety Energy Agency that this was a hydrogen explosion. It was not an explosion related to the reactor itself. They say that no harmless (sic) materials were released into the atmosphere. They say there's been no recorded increase in radioactivity since that explosion.
The prime minister, Naoto Kan, has also said that no one has yet been affected by radioactivity. But (INAUDIBLE) agency, the nuclear officials here also saying that some radioactive material was released into the atmosphere. That happened earlier today. It was recorded eight times higher than the normal level just outside the perimeter of the plant.
But again, they're saying it is not enough to cause any problems to the people in the vicinity. But as I say, having increased that threat and now you have this 20 kilometer 12 to 13-mile exclusion zone -- Andrew.
STEVENS: The good news, obviously, that was a hydrogen explosion and not related to the reactor, Stan.
To the best of your knowledge and the people you've been talking to, what do we know about what is actually going on with those reactors then? Because we hear sort of different reports that the government seems to be down playing it a little bit, and many experts we've been talking say this is a race against time, this is an incredibly serious issue right now.
GRANT: Certainly serious issue. You're getting into uncharted territory here.
You have, of course, the impact of the quake, but now this nuclear emergency, as well. And it is an emergency, declared an emergency by the government. They're not taking it lightly.
But at the same time, they don't want to see people panic here, as well. And they are saying that the radioactive levels or radioactivity that seeped out into the atmosphere have been at levels that are not going to cause harm.
But here's the problem. What happens here is that the water level drops and the reactors are exposed. And those reactors generate enormous heat. That's how you power the electricity, the steam the electricity comes from.
They -- overheat. They can't get enough water in there to cool it. That puts more pressure and more prospect of these -- these fuel casings, these rods melting down and that's creating more radioactive material, which could head into the atmosphere.
So that's what they're really trying to do, get more water in there to try to cool those reactors down, 24 hours, more than 24 hours later, they've been unable to do that, Andrew.
STEVENS: Stan, thank you so much for that.
Stan Grant joining us live from Tokyo with an update on the developing story, the breaking news story from those reactors in the Fukushima Prefecture -- Randi/
KAYE: Robert Alvarez is a senior scholar at the Institute of Policy Studies and researches nuclear disarmament and environmental and energy policies. And he says there's only about a 24-hour window in which to cool the reactor before the core and fuel elements are actually exposed. He gives us a glimpse into what might have happened inside that nuclear plant at the time of the explosion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ALVAREZ, INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES (via telephone): The temperatures start to build and then in a matter of several hours you can start to have the reactor experience a meltdown and other things could happen with these very high temperatures that could be as high as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
For example, the zirconium platting (ph) that contains the uranium fuel at those kinds of temperatures can spontaneously combust, to catch fire. The interaction with the zirconium and the radiation in the water could generate hydrogen and you might have fires and explosions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Another nuclear plant not far from the reactor that exploded alerted authorities that the cooling systems in three of its four reactors have also failed -- Andrew.
STEVENS: Now Randi, at least 45 countries have now pledged rescue teams, supplies and financial aid. Japan has accepted offers of search and rescue teams so far from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.
The U.S. has also sent Navy ships to Japan to help out with the relief. It's also helping with what President Obama calls lift capacity, heavy lifting equipment. The U.S. also sent supplies to help cool those nuclear reactors there.
Poland is offering to send firefighters. President Medvedev of Russia says that his country has offered rescuers and sniffer dogs and quote, all possible aid. Thailand is offering about $165,000 in aid. It says it will consider offering more when the extent of the damage is known.
And the International Red Cross and Red Crescent say that they've mobilized 11 teams to the heavily damaged areas. They have 20,000 tents and other relief supplies ready to pass on to local Red Cross teams.
KAYE: And the U.S. is sending military ships loaded with humanitarian supplies and search and rescue teams to help Japan, as well.
Let's get more on the U.S. response from Elise Labott in Washington.
Elise, as I understand it, Japan is actually leading the efforts and setting the priorities. Is that what you're being told, as well?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: That's right, Randi. The Japanese government has a lot of experience with this, the Japanese military very capable and has a lot of resources. Really what the United States is doing is mobilizing all of its resources, the entire seventh fleet, seven or eight warships on the way. The U.S. is sending search and rescue teams, really going to take their cues from the Japanese as to what they need.
This isn't a case like Haiti where there was no functioning government. This is a government that's very capable and they want to be in the lead on this.
KAYE: And what about the U.S. citizens? Is anything being done there to help American citizens who might be looking to get out?
LABOTT: Well, right now the focus is on finding and making sure there are no Americans hurt, there are no Americans injured or any fatalities, then what the U.S. is going to do. Obviously, consular teams are on the scene trying to help Americans. Once that is all sorted out, the initial search and rescue and recovery operation, then the United States is going to start to help Americans get out. But we really haven't heard anything about that yet.
KAYE: All right. Elise Labott, thank you so much.
And to find out how you can make a difference in Japan, visit our impact your world web page. That's at CNN.com/impact.
Eyewitness accounts of the most devastating natural disaster in Japan's history. CNN I-reporters recorded incredible video of the earthquake and the tsunami as they battered the nation. We'll share more of those with you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENT KOOI, CNN IREPORTER: We have an earthquake right now. And this is actually moving. You see the cracks moving? The crack is just moving. There's water, I don't know if water lines are broken, but this water was not there a minute ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Communities, towns, neighborhoods literally splitting apart. That is such an amazing image.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unreal.
KATE: We have been getting some really unforgettable images out of Japan's disaster zone. Some of the most haunting really have been from the very first moments of the catastrophe, like that one.
And listen to the terror and disbelief of this CNN iReporter as he realizes this is no ordinary earthquake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN MCDONALD, CNN IREPORTER: Oh, my God! That is the biggest earthquake to date. It is still going. Oh, my God, the building's going to fall!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: You can hear the terror in his voice.
WOLF: Unbelievable.
KAYE: Yes, the video is from iReporter Ryan McDonald, shot from his home in Fukushima. That's about 140 miles north of Tokyo. He says that after the quake there were aftershocks almost every 30 minutes. Last we heard, he was heading for an evacuation center.
But Reynolds, I have to ask you, if you have aftershocks every 30 minutes, is there ever a time where you know, yes, it's definitely safe to go back inside?
WOLF: I would say absolutely not especially when you have an earthquake of that magnitude. What's so insane about it is every time you have an earthquake that strong, it's going to weaken the structural foundation of these buildings. Then when you have a tremor, an aftershock, it can further weaken it. So there's always the danger of collapse and with the collapse, entrapment inside these structures.
This is a terrifying prospect. When you think about tropical systems or tornadoes, you can tell when they're coming. The skies are getting dark. You can see the storms rolling to you.
But there isn't any real warning when it comes to these type of -- the thing about an earthquake, look at the images. The tsunamis, of course, happen near coastal regions, but earthquakes can happen anywhere on the planet and they can strike at any moment.
KAYE: All right. Let's listen. Let's take a pause here and listen to some of the sound of this next iReport.
You can hear it gets louder and louder, the crescendo as the earthquake actually ramps up. You can see how difficult it is for him even to hold his camera.
That's iReporter Harrison Peyton in (INAUDIBLE). He said he was asleep in his house when he felt the ground shaking and didn't know what to do, so he stood in his driveway.
Smart or not so smart, Reynolds?
WOLF: Absolutely. As long as he's away from power lines, as long as he's away from anything that could fall.
KAYE: So better to get out of the house?
WOLF: Absolutely. After this thing occurs, this dangerous, it would be safe to be possibly in a tent, something -- if it were to fall, obviously it wouldn't be a weapon, couldn't hurt you. But inside any building, I wouldn't feel secure.
KAYE: Good tips for the next time something like this happens. Hopefully it'll be a long time from now.
WOLF: You bet.
KAYE: Let's hand it over to Andrew -- Andrew.
STEVENS: Thanks, Randi.
We want to take a step back now and give you some background on Japan and its economy.
The CIA World Fact Book says Japan's overall economic growth averaged 5 percent in the 1970s and 4 percent in the 1980s. Growth slowed, though, in the 1990s after the great property bubble burst of 1989. Growth in the '90s averaging just 1.7 percent.
Now, Tokyo has warned that its GDP, that's the total value of all its economic output, that GDP growth will slow this year. And that is even more evident with this powerful earthquake.
Japan is heavily dependent on raw materials imported, not to mention fuel as well. It is also the world's biggest fishing fleets, accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global fishing catch.
Now it is also the world's third biggest economy behind the U.S. and most recently China. That just changed in the last few months or so.
It's also among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of cars, electronics equipment, machine tools and steel. Now unemployment is just above 5 percent which is high for Japan. Per capita income comes in at $34,200. Compare that with the U.S., the U.S. per capita income, $47,000 U.S.
Now Japan has a parliamentary government with a constitutional monarchy. Its capital is Tokyo. There are 47 prefectures, government divisions similar to the U.S. states.
The head of government is the Prime Minister Naoto Kan in office since June. They seem to be fairly short-reigning in Japan these days. The prime minister also appoints his cabinet.
Now, the national anthem appears to be the oldest national anthem lyrics in the world, in use back in 1883.
We'll be right back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Checking top stories.
New video just coming into the newsroom.
A horrible accident in the Bronx section of New York. A tour bus overturns, 13 people are dead according to the city's fire department, another six passengers we're told are in critical condition. We'll bring you more details as we get them here in the CNN newsroom.
It appears forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are getting the upper hand as they try tamping down a nationwide rebellion that has roiled the North African nation for weeks now. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports that renewed aerial bombardments against the rebels in Ras Lanuf are disheartening the opposition.
In Yemen, weeks of protest have again erupted into violence. Witnesses say government troops opened fire on an anti-government protest in the capital. A medic tells CNN, one person is dead and dozens of people are injured. CNN cannot confirm these claims with the government. And in sports, we're on the brink of a potential NFL lockout after talks between owners and the players union ended yesterday without reaching a new labor agreement.
Contemplating another natural disaster. Images pouring in from Japan eerily reminiscent of New Orleans in 2005. Retired General Russell Honore literally wrote the book on handling disasters of this nature. He's joining us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVENS: Now, Katrina was a hurricane, not a tsunami, but it's impossible to look at these images and not get flashbacks of New Orleans more than five years ago.
Back then, General Russell Honore helped guide the city through crisis. Since his retirement, General Russell Honore has continued his mission to spread awareness on handling major disasters. He joins us now live from Baton Rouge.
General, very good morning to you.
As you look at these images, we're all looking at the devastation caused by that tsunami. Do you see the similarities in the aftermath of Katrina?
LT. GEN. RUSSELL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Certainly, in the aftermath in the amount of water that remains ashore and the amount of damages that have been done to so many homes and businesses and the destruction of the infrastructure, meaning the roads, inaccessible to be able to get into the airport. All of those are a rerun of what we experienced during Katrina.
STEVENS: And the lessons you learned from Katrina, how would you apply those to Japan? What would be your first plan of action there?
HONORE: Is to build the coordination, as they're doing now, between the Japanese defense force, Japanese government and PACOM, the Pacific Command. The Pacific Command has done a lot of posturing, moving ships, Ronald Reagan to include elements of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, the Tartuga, the Essex, the Harpers Ferry. Several ships are in strike zone now being able to assist with search and rescue.
The U.S. has dedicated U.S. forces at Yokota Air Base, will be on the ground coordinator working with the Japanese.
And hopefully, within the next coming hours, we will get a request from the Japanese for those search and rescue assets to go to work.
STEVENS: Now, search and rescue are looking for survivors of the tsunami of the quake. In the days and weeks ahead of that, the rebuilding, the cleaning up starts, and the sanitation, how do you deal with that? HONORE: That's an enormous issue. Initially in the coming days, as you saw when the tsunami came ashore, it hit a lot of agricultural areas, areas that were used for farming crops, raising animals. I imagine much of that has been disrupted, as well as small plants that might have chemicals in them. This is an enormous issue that has to be sorted out on the ground by the search and rescue teams.
And then the other big piece is people that at a still there that are alive that have not been evacuated. You know, disaster response is much about logistics in getting food and water and medical supplies at the right place and the right time and in the first four or five days, it's search and rescue to try to get people out alive.
And I think that's where Pacific Command will be the biggest assistance to the Japanese self-defense force is helping them run search and rescue using helicopter and many of the expeditionary capability that's in the Navy and the Marines to come ashore.
STEVENS: Do you think that the Navy and the Marines of the U.S. military forces can do what the Japanese defense forces can't do?
HONORE: No, I think they can complement them with additional helicopters. Let's put it inside to scope.
Inside New Orleans St. Bernard Parish, (INAUDIBLE) Parish, it took us four days, but we masked 225 helicopters from all branches of services. And at a point in time, that wasn't enough to cover the entire area because you've got to remember, it's not just a strike zone, you've got thousands of villages inside that thousand-mile zone there along the coast that are out of electricity, people in hospitals that need to be evacuated. So the needs are enormous for airlifts since most of the roads going into that area are closed.
So that's the capability the U.S. can bring to augment the Japanese. And if I said anything else, I don't mean any disrespect to the Japanese self defense force.
STEVENS: Understood.
General Russell Honore, thanks so much for your time.
We're going to be right back with the latest developments including reports of another earthquake. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVENS: We want to welcome our worldwide audience back to our special coverage of the disaster in Japan. I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Randi Kaye here in Atlanta, thank you for joining us.
It is 10:30 at night in Japan and just minutes ago, another aftershock in Japan, this one 5.8 magnitude. Most rescue operations have stopped for the day, but the concern over more aftershocks like that one, even more tsunamis also remains; much concerned about those, as well.
There have been more than 180 aftershocks since the 8.9 earthquake and massive tsunami struck Japan's northeastern coast. At least 900 people are dead, we're told at least 700 more missing. An undetermined number injured.
Early rescue efforts were difficult because of all of the aftershocks. Highways in that part of Japan are damaged; utility services such as water and electricity are out for hundreds of thousands of people.
The quake triggered a tsunami more than 23 feet high that washed over the Japanese coastline, traveled six miles inland. This is the largest quake in recorded history to hit Japan and the seventh largest worldwide since recordkeeping first began.
And at this hour, one of the government's biggest concerns is damage to a nuclear power plant in northeast Japan. The plant damaged earlier today by an explosion that collapsed the roof over one reactor.
Japan's Prime Minister says there has been no damage to the environment from this nuclear plant, and the public, he says, is not at risk. He says nearby citizens are being evacuated as just a precaution. Here's what he said just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAOTO KAN, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I have also evacuated 20 kilometers away from the first nuclear reactor. And I would like to give careful attention so not one citizen is affected by the radiation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The U.S. says Japan has not asked for any international help in dealing with the damaged nuclear plant -- Andrew.
STEVENS: Now Randi, Northeastern Japan took the brunt of the quake and the tsunami. And among the hardest hit areas was around Sendai, that's the city of one million people where CNN's international correspondent Anna Coren, arrived in the last hour near the heart of this natural disaster.
And Anna, it's 10:30 in the evening, it's bitterly cold. As we just heard there are still aftershocks and much of the city seems to be submerged or at least in standing water. How are the people of Sendai dealing with this evening?
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrew, I just want to mention that aftershock that Randi spoke about a time ago. It certainly did shake. I was inside the van, and the -- the van shook. So these aftershocks or I should say after shake -- shook began after -- aftershocks, are certainly continuing.
That is why the tsunami warning is still in place here in Japan. They are still on high alert in case there is another major shake that forces a tsunami to come onshore.
As we saw, that monster wave hit the northeast of the country. It happened some, you know, 15 to 20 minutes after the quake struck. And that is what is -- is just frightening.
You know, I speak to people and they say it's not this earthquake that has caused all this damage; it is in fact, the tsunami. It is that monster wave, that 10-meter wave that hit the coast and -- and literally engulfed everything in its wake.
We've seen those frightening pictures. And we spoke to a reporter, Andrew, a local reporter who managed to -- to get up to some of the hard-hit areas, which north of where I am here in -- in -- in Sendai. And he said that in one particular part there was some 200 to 300 bodies below; he said house after house after house after house had been destroyed.
As you say, the death toll is expected to surpass 1,000, and there are 700 people missing. But as we -- as the minutes go by, the days go by Andrew, that's expected to rise. It is bitterly cold; anybody who is trapped in that rubble, it is going to be a massive feat to get through the night.
STEVENS: And -- and -- as you say Anna, I mean, with that aftershock, there is a very real danger of yet another tsunami in that area. This is a city of a million people. Are people fleeing Sendai now? Are they -- if they can, are they getting out?
COREN: We drove here late tonight, we couldn't fly in. Obviously the airport of Sendai, it had been engulfed by that tsunami as well. It's very eerie, it's extremely quiet. I mean, coming in it was pitch-black. There is no power on in much of the city. I mean, where we are in the city's center, there is electricity and power, but that is only in pockets.
So much of the city there is no power, there is no water. So people, I would presume, are getting out. It's certainly very quiet. And I can tell you that certainly coming into -- into the city, there was a long convoy of cars (AUDIO GAP) kilometers it would saying that's where -- were trying to -- to get out.
So not a lot of people obviously want to hang around --Andrew.
STEVENS: Anna Coren in Sendai, the very heart of where the disaster hit hardest on land. Thanks very much for that -- Randi.
KAYE: As those rescue efforts continue, Japanese officials are also struggling to contain the situation at the nuclear plant near the epicenter. I want to bring in Cham Dallas he's a professor of Disaster Management at the University of Georgia.
Professor Dallas, you've worked with Japanese disaster management in the past. I want to ask you about this. They're saying now -- or the latest news is that this explosion that we saw at one of these plants was due to hydrogen build-up. It was -- it was a hydrogen explosion, that there isn't radio activity in the air according to our reporters there on the ground.
Is that a good thing?
PROF. CHAM DALLAS, DISASTER MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: Oh that's a good thing relative to the -- the other possibilities that it could have involved their reactor core, which apparently it has not, not at this time.
However, any explosion of that nuclear reactor is -- is -- is very distressing. They had 13 diesel generator backups that should have been available for this and they all went down. That's a disturbing development.
The -- this is kind of the critical time right now. These reactor cores, you can't cool them down very quickly. It's like analogies I've heard on the air on CNN where it's like a stove. You heat it up and it doesn't go down very quickly.
(CROSS TALK)
KAYE: Sure.
DALLAS: You can still burn your hand a little bit later.
KAYE: And that's been the problem, right? The cooling system.
DALLAS: That's the problem.
KAYE: It's --
DALLAS: The heat's got to go somewhere. And so what they do is they dissipate the heat this direction or that direction. Well, without diesel generators working, their water couldn't be moved around so the heat has nowhere to go.
KAYE: And I know that you told me you didn't get much sleep last night because you've been speaking with your -- your --
DALLAS: Yes. Right.
KAYE: -- the people that you know in Japan. You -- you've been in touch with them quite a bit about this. Did you learn anything that you can share with us that might be new?
DALLAS: Yes, I -- I've worked closely with the Japanese emergency management and including the one that's in the control room there at the number one reactor. And they were concerned about uncovering a part of the core at one point. And that's a disturbing development.
This is kind of the critical period. They should be able to control this if they can keep that core covered. It has to have water around it to take the heat away. At Chernobyl the core got uncovered and that's when they had a meltdown.
And this one we're getting conflicting reports. I'm getting conflicting statements from the people I know in Japan, some say they think part of their core is melting a little, others say no.
KAYE: And the Prime Minister coming out just today saying not to be concerned, nobody's been affected.
DALLAS: Yes. I --
KAYE: You're shaking your head?
DALLAS: -- I'm not certain about that. But I -- what we don't right now, is that a -- a limited amount of radioactivity right now has been limit -- has been come out. Some of the reports I've seen have indicated something like 620 millirims (ph) in an hour.
KAYE: What does that mean?
DALLAS: Well, that's about the radiation you get in a year normally, OK --
(CROSS TALK)
KAYE: And this is in one hour?
DALLAS: And that's in one hour. That's the report we have right now.
KAYE: We -- we saw some video and we -- we actually have video of the explosion as it happened. And you can see these big white plumes of smoke.
Is that alarming to you? And where is that going and how quickly can something like that travel?
DALLAS: Well, my Japanese friends in the middle of the night called me and told me that things were deteriorating some. And then there was an explosion right after that which gave some credibility to what they're telling me. When you see that cloud coming out there, you have the idea -- oh yes, look at that, that's coming out of the nuclear reactor.
Apparently it was not a radioactive cloud or else if anything a reactor core we would have seen a spike and reactivity --
KAYE: Sure.
DALLAS: -- outside of Japan.
So apparently it was a hydrogen blast, which is not a good thing for those four people that were injured. But right now, we really have to keep an eye on this because that reactor core has to remain covered.
KAYE: Right.
DALLAS: They've got to keep that thing covered. And without diesel generator power, that means they're resorting to batteries to do that. KAYE: Well listen, you know where we are. So if your friends call you from Japan --
(CROSS TALK)
DALLAS: OK.
KAYE: -- with any more information, we'd love to tell our viewers the latest that's going on.
DALLAS: OK. OK, I'll do that.
KAYE: Professor Dallas we appreciate it.
DALLAS: OK.
KAYE: We appreciate your insight.
DALLAS: OK.
KAYE: Andrew.
STEVENS: Randi, we're just getting some news coming in to us -- it's from the Kyodo News organization in Japan -- in Japan, one of the -- one of the bigger news agencies there, saying about that 9,500 people are still unaccounted for following the quake and the tsunami.
Now, the death toll currently stands around about 900 with 700 people that are injured. This increases dramatically, though, the number of people still unaccounted for -- 9,500 people.
OK. You're watching CNN. We're going to take a short break in -- right now. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVENS: I just want to update you now on the news we're getting in from Kyodo News Agency in Japan saying that 9,500 people are missing from one town in northern Japan in the town called Minami Sanriku which is in Miyagi Prefecture. This is a town of 17,000; 9,500 people are still unaccounted for in that town.
This is about 32 hours now after the tsunami and the earthquake first struck. So we'll continue to bring you more details on that.
That's coming to us from the Kyodo News Agency -- Randi.
KAYE: And Andrew, social media is proving to be a lifeline for people in the stricken zone and for people around the world who might be worried about their loved ones.
Josh Levs is keeping an eye on all things social media and he's here to join us this morning.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you, Randi. And you know, we can pick up on some of this breaking news we're hearing, as well because part of the problem is that there are people unaccounted for because they can't get in touch. They don't have access to their cell phones. They don't have access to land lines. In some cases communications have been cut off.
And some people are finding that actually social media is their only way of reaching each other, even reaching the outside world. At CNN, we spoke earlier with a young woman who's in Tokyo. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YUSA KANAMORI, TOKYO RESIDENT: Because we don't have the phone line really working. So everyone is contacting through Twitter. And they're knowing that each other is alive and we see a lot of comments from overseas. And we're very cheerful from that.
We see a lot of like pictures that are like -- we think about Japan and all those comments, and we are really cheerful for that. And that's because -- that's the reason why we can kind of hold it together right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So to everyone watching this all over the world right now, understand that there are people like her inside Tokyo who are saying -- and elsewhere in Japan -- who are saying that the messages that you are sending on social media are really meaning a lot to them. And many of them are able to see it.
Now, a lot of people are very worried about loved ones you've not been able to reach, loved ones who may be unaccounted for right now. And we've got some interesting advice earlier.
A man named Nate Berkus who is a TV in the United States, he was in the 2004 tsunami and tragically lost his partner there. He had some advice. Take a look at what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATE BERKUS, LOST PARTNER IN 2004 TSUNAMI: Keep the hope that you will find your loved ones that are missing. Stay on the social media, Facebook, Twitter, all of these things. Keep posting the pictures of those who are missing. Don't give up on that hope because people are disoriented, they've been knocked unconscious. They may not know where they are or what's wrong with them. So there's always a chance that your loved one has survived.
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LEVS: And here is a way that you can use the Internet to try to track down your loved ones. It's called the Google person finder. I'll show you in a minute where I've linked it for you.
If you're looking for someone or if you're in a stricken area and you have information on someone, all you need to do is click right here, type in the name, and ultimately you can get information. You can get a whole list, you might be able to find information on someone you are looking for.
Tens of thousands of names have been submitted. In some cases information about them has been posted, as well. I posted this and other helpful links for you at Facebook and Twitter. I'm at JoshLevsCNN.
We're doing all we can here at CNN to get you in all the necessary places to get information about the stricken region as social media, Randi, continues to play a major role in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami.
KAYE: All right, Josh. Thank you for that.
LEVS: You got it.
KAYE: Andrew.
STEVENS: Well, Randi, as we probably know that Japan is one of the most wired nations in the world and much of the fury of the quake is evident in the CNN iReports flooding into us here now.
We'll show you some of the best videos when we come back.
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STEVENS: OK. Just breaking news coming to us now. There's been two more strong aftershocks in Japan in the last 30 minutes. The first was a magnitude 5.8, the second a magnitude 6.4. That came in just 50 miles or so from Fukushima; that's where the problem nuclear plant is located.
Now, the USGS has recorded some 83 significant aftershocks just in the past 21 hours. So the aftershocks continue.
And Randi, I guess these aftershocks can continue for weeks and sometimes months. So the affected areas in Japan certainly have that to deal with, as well.
KAYE: Yes, as if they haven't been through enough already. Now they're waiting and watching, for not only aftershocks, Andrew, but also the tsunamis they say that could follow, as well.
STEVENS: Yes.
KAYE: Meteorologists Reynolds Wolf has our earth science lesson. How that earthquake off the coast of Japan spawned a tsunami felt halfway across the world with that incredible power. Japan's coast, actually, Reynolds, moved some 8 feet and the earth itself now on an altered axis?
WOLF: Hard to believe. But I mean this is just devastating effect. No question about it. Thankfully to help me explain this, we've got CNN International's Pedram Javaheri is with us. And if you tune in from CNN International on a regular basis, you know this guy very, very well. Certainly he's a wonderful expert.
And this is really a hot bed of seismic activity, isn't it? I mean you've seen all the tremors we've had; all the aftershocks and, of course, the big one being the 8.9 earthquake. Exactly, Pedram, what is the anatomy of a system like this -- the anatomy of a tsunami?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, we're sitting in an area that gets on average some 1,500 quakes per year and just the word tsunami, Japanese term "tsu" for the name port, and "name" for wave so "port wave" as they get right on the coastal regions.
If you take a look at this, we have Japan right along the coast there, this being the pacific plate lined up in the bottom of your screen. Of course, the plates grind against each other here and move at a rate of about say four inches or about 90 or so millimeters per year; that's the same rate that your fingernails grow in that same rate but continued.
And if you take a look at this, as the plates begin grinding against each other at that rate about 4 inches a year, very slowly builds up pressure. The pressure builds up and then you have that thrust fault line that we talk about often. Basically the plate builds up that pressure and it thrusts up and eventually you get the waves that develop associated with this and that goes to continue over on the next day, couple of hours to perhaps a day or so where it could have global implications.
And this case we have a Pacific-wide implication across this region. And then see if you're sitting on a boat out there, these move at about 800 kilometers, about 500 miles per hour, the speed of a jet airliner. And they go right unnoticed past some of those boats. But once they get to the beach, we have what's called the run-up, and this basically runs up against the topography, against the symmetry that we talk about here. Just like how your bath reacts where you move around in the bath and splash the water and the waves begin propagating outward.
This comes up and eventually as we get that increase and the steepness, the waves eventually could become significant and that's when you have the widespread problems out there, Randi, associated with tsunamis that had global implications yesterday when that made the wave towards (INAUDIBLE) America within 12 to 24 hours.
KAYE: Fascinating, I love that note about as much as your fingernails grow. That was an interesting perspective on that.
JAVAHERI: It's amazing. Yes.
KAYE: Yes. Thank you so much.
JAVAHERI: Absolutely. KAYE: At this point we bid farewell to CNN's Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Andrew, a pleasure working with you today.
STEVENS: You too, Randi, and no doubt we'll see you again very soon.
KAYE: Absolutely.
Our coverage of the disaster in Japan continues for viewers in the United States and around the world.
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