Tsunami hits Japan after massive quake

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami.

Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude quake, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.

A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant but officials said there were no radiation leaks.

The death toll is unclear, but police say 200 to 300 bodies have been found in the port city of Sendai.

At least 90 other people are reported to have died, and many more are unaccounted for.With train services suspended, there are millions of people on the streets of Tokyo tonight. The official advice is, if you're safe, to stay where you are. But after the shock of the quake many people just want to get home.

Here in Tokyo, even though it wasn't the epicentre, the quake was still felt very powerfully. The ground rolled and rumbled underfoot and you could hear the great skyscrapers creaking and cracking as they swayed.

Walking was like crossing the deck of a ship at sea. People poured down from their offices and stood in the street staring up.

Measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, the tremor struck at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.

The first waves from the tsunami have reached the US mainland at Oregon, and people have been evacuated from coastal areas of that state and in California and Washington.

Some of the biggest waves of between 6-7ft (about 2m) would hit near California's Crescent City, predicted the US National Weather Service.

The waves earlier passed Hawaii, but there have been no reports of major damage.

A tsunami warning was extended across the Pacific to North and South America, where many other coastal regions were evacuated, but the alert has since been lifted in most parts, including the Philippines and New Zealand.

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