Japan earthquake 2011 update: death toll reaches nearly 500, may reach more than 1,000 - (Photos)

As of 1:19 p.m. (Tokyo time), March 12, 2011, the casualties due to the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm, reaches to 433, according to Kyodo News Agency on Saturday.

Apparently, the 10-meter high tsunami that was created by the earthquake devastated Fukushima Prefecture, Sendai city and also affected the Fukushima nuclear plants, as shown in the photos here.

As noted by Japanese police, the combined number of people who have died or are unaccounted for may reach to around 1,200 as the counts are increasing from time to time, as series of strong aftershocks are being felt.The recent earthquake, which was said to be the strongest ever to hit the country since the Meiji Era, has affected more than 3,400 business establishments and buildings, partially damaged and totally destroyed, the report said. On the other hand, the country’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that the total numbers of fire that broke went to about 200, while around 1,800 houses have been destroyed in the Fukushima Prefecture.

As reported at Aljazeera English, there are at least 703 casualties as of 3:49 p.m. (local time), Saturday, March 12, 2011.

On the succeeding pages are some of the photos taken during and immediately after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan collected by BoingBoing.net, as well as the continuation of this news report. The navigation button is right after the photo below.

Huge whirlpool near Oarai City, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeastern Japan, March 11, 2011. Image Credit: Reuters/Kyodo/BoingBoing.net

[Source : batangastoday.com]