US, Australia and whole Pacific region on tsunami alert

UPDATE: 13.30hrs

A tsunami warning has been issued right across the Pacific region including Hawaii, South America and Australia after Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake in the early hours of this morning.

The tsunami alert for New Zealand has now been lifted and Indonesia, which was in danger of being hit by giant waves, has escaped significant damage.

 Tokyo’s Narita airport is closed and a number of airlines have suspended flights to Japan following the mega-quake, which struck the town of Sendai at 1446 local time. British Airways has cancelled two flights to Japan that were due to leave for Narita and Haneda airports later today.

Kansai International Airport and Chubu Centrair Airport are operating normally.

 Those concerned about family or friends in Japan should call the Foreign Office on 020 7008 0000.

  Experts said that it was "certain" the earthquake would trigger a tsunami that will sweep across the Pacific, reaching Hawaii by 12.45 GMT today, the west coast of America by 3.45pm and and Chile later today.

 A tsunami reached Hawaii following a much smaller earthquake in Japan last year. This latest earthquake has been described as 100 times more powerful than the quake that struke Christchurch, New Zealand, two weeks ago.

Parts of northeast Japan, including the city of Sendai, are suffering catastrophic flooding after the quake, which occurred offshore, about 400kms northeast of Tokyo. Powerful waves have washed away buildings, cars and even ships. Huge areas of farmland have been flooded. Several people are reported trapped in buildings and people are believed to be trapped in the rubble of a hotel in Sendai.

 Reporters said a steel plant and an oil refinery are ablaze and a nuclear power plant has been shut down amid fears of a radiatin leak, cutting power to millions of people. Scientists are describing the earthquake of 8.9 magnitude as a super-quake.

The entire Pacific region, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwain, Russia, Australia and the west coast of America, have been put on tsunami alert.

After-shocks from this morning’s earthquake have been felt in Tokyo, more than 200 miles from the quake’s epicentre, where transport has been severely disrupted. Up to 20 people are reported injured after a roof collapsed following one of several tremors. After-shocks are also being felt in Beijing, according to reports on the BBC.

The bullet train service from Tokyo has been partially suspended, the Tokyo Metro has been suspended for safety checks and train services across Japan are believed to have been hit. Communication across the country is difficult as mobile phones and some landlines are no longer operating.

By Linsey McNeill