The biggest earthquake on record to hit Japan has caused widespread destruction across the country. A 10-metre high tsunami, triggered by the tremor, has swept inland in many places swamping everything in its path.
- A powerful tsunami has swept across a large area of northern Japan causing major damage, flooding towns and sweeping away buildings. It was triggered by a 8.9-magnitude earthquake
- Police say up to 300 bodies have been found in Sendai, the city that was worst-hit. Many more people are missing
- Tsunami warnings were issued for virtually the entire Pacific region. The first waves have now reached the mainland of the United States along the Oregon coast. Earlier, tsunami waves about 1m high flooded several beaches on Hawaii
Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant, where pressure has exceeded normal levels.
Officials say 350 people are dead and about 500 missing, but it is feared the final death toll will be much greater.
In one ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found.
The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, said scientists.
Measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, it struck at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.
The tsunami rolled across the Pacific at 800km/h (500mph) - as fast as a jetliner - before hitting Hawaii and the US West Coast.
Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas in the states of California, Oregon and Washington, but there were no reports of major damage.
The biggest waves of more than 6-7ft (about 2m) were recorded near California's Crescent City, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.
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, Australia and China.
Strong waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, damaging dozens of coastal communities.
A 10m wave struck Sendai, deluging farmland and sweeping cars across the airport's runway. Fires broke out in the centre of the city.
