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On March 11th, Japan was damaged by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake which hit the Northeast coast. After the earthquake and tsunami, Japan has suffered from continuous secondary earthquakes, and radiation has leaked after explosions at a nuclear power plant.
Due to the earthquake and tsunami, many buildings and houses were destroyed, boats and cars were swept away and residents lost their families. The National Police Agency in Japan said that the death toll is about 7,600, and the number of missing people is about 12,000. The death toll and the number of missing people are expected to increase because the exact extent of the damage hasn't been assessed. The residents of the damaged areas can't maintain their basic lives because of a lack of water and daily necessities. They depend on relief supplies. The supermarkets and convenience stores in Japan are crowded by people who are stocking up to prepare for aftershocks.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that 50 countries around the Pacific Rim, such as Russia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hawaii and others, were expected to be affected by the tsunami and issued a tsunami warning on March 11th. In the aftermath of the strong earthquake in Japan, many countries around the Pacific Rim were strained and they issued tsunami warnings. Most countries, such as America, Chile, Peru and Hawaii, canceled the warning the next day. However, that was too soon to relax because Japan has been damaged continuously because of aftershocks. According to the United States Geological Survey(USGS), more than 60 aftershocks had occurred before 11 p.m. on March 11th. The fear of secondary earthquakes is continuing in Japan as magnitude 6.0 earthquakes have occurred in Ibaraki, Nagano, Shizuoka and Chiba. A Japanese man, named Rio, said on twitter, "Damaged areas were not only in the Northeast. Ibaraki was also damaged. Mass media is reporting the news about damages in the Northeast but please don't forget that other areas are also suffering from the earthquakes."
Radiation is also threatening the Japanese Islands. A nuclear power plant was damaged because of earthquakes and its cooling function was broken. Some scientists are concerned about the melting of fuel rods. Despite the Japanese government's stand when the earthquake occurred radiation wasn¡¯t leaking, the level of radiation has been increasing every day.
The restoration work has run into unexpected problems. The workers had stopped working many times because of unknown smoke from the plant. Some workers were exposed to radiation, and abnormal levels of radiation were detected near the plant. The ocean around the plant was polluted by cooling water which was used to prevent overheating nuclear reactors. Radiation has been detected in Heilongjian, China and Massachusetts, U.S. among other places. The fear of radiation is spreading around the world.