Strongth Quake News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Right now looks like there's a lot of incredible fires going on, water damage, just destruction in general. what do you know about that particular area of the country? >> reporter: well, there's one of the major cities out in japan. you know, the fact they are already, you know -- initial reports we're getting, the damage we're already seeing, you can imagine once things quiet down, things get settled, we'll get more reports of that. so, you can imagine the economic impact they will feel. sendai is definitely one of the major cities in japan. and the fact they have experienced a quake this big...

It assumes that most elevators came to a halt in the region affected by the disaster. according to toshiba elevator it assumes most elevators came to a halt in the region effected by the disaster. at the moment the company has been collecting information about mechanical troubles. the industry ministers nuclear and industrial safety agency has put in place an emergency center for the earthquake. it will collect information concerning damages caused by the earthquake to nuclear power plants around the country. for those just tuned in to nhk world, you're seeing live coverage of miyagi prefectur...

We are looking at incredible video coming in from nhk, the public broadcaster out here. homes have been swept away by these waves. you know, you can imagine with these images just how bad the damage will be once that water recedes. >> we're also seeing a lot of flames. from your vantage point at that abc building there, are you seeing any fires? >> reporter: we are not seeing any from our vantage point but we have been watching all the footage coming through japanese media reports. nhk has not confirmed at least these are a direct result of the quake. we're trying to confirm that ourselves. ag...

And people on the roof evacuated from the roof to higher ground. >> the scene reminiscent of two things. we haven't seen this since 2004 when a 9.1 magnitude quake struck off the coast of indonesia. more than 220,000 people perished in that disaster. this is japan's biggest disaster since 1995, 6,000 people perished in that disaster. the waving of the flag from the rooftop reminiscent of the hurricane katrina disaster in new orleans six years ago. we're seeing all of this unfold in japan. normal friday afternoon, middle of the afternoon and this struck. officials there have been saying please ...

Right now we're hearing them report on possible damages to actually nuclear power plants in that area. as you see, the tsunami waters just roll through the countryside there taking out homes and boats and cars all along with it. you see the damage here is going to be unfolding in front of us for quite some time. >> staggering. consider this number, for example, the last big quake to strike japan was back in 1995, a 6.8 magnitude quake, 6,000 people died in that disaster. right now we're hearing various reports of 8.4 to 8.8, even to 8.9 magnitude quake. a much stronger quake than the one back ...