in the wind. though they have not come out and said so publicly do you get the sense that there is a sense of urgency on the part of the white house hoping that the united nations well, here s the president. he ll probably address this right now. let s go to the president at the white house. before i begin i want to say a few words about the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck japan earlier today. first and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of japan. this is a potentially catastrophic disaster. and the images of the destruction and flooding coming out of japan are simply heartbreaking. japan is, of course, one of our strongest and closest allies and this morning i spoke with prime minister kan. on behalf of the american people. our conveyed our deepest condolences, especially to victims and the families and offered our japanese friends whatever assistance is needed. we currently have an aircraft carrier in japan and another is on its way.
killed. hundreds more are missing. the death toll expected to rise in japan after the massive earthquake followed by a 23-foot tsunami there in asia. six-foot waves hit hawaii this morning and the west coast is getting hit, as we speak. we ll explain the science behind all of this ahead. [ male announcer ] investing for yourself isn t some optional pursuit. a privilege for the ultra-wealthy. it s a necessity. find investments with e-trade s top 5 lists. quickly. easily. use pre-defined screeners and insightful trading ideas to dig deeper. work smarter. not harder. depend on yourself the one person you should trust to take charge of your financial future. e-trade. investing unleashed. crisp, clear, untouched. that s why there s brita, to make the water we drink,
bottles and cans that fell off of the shelves and the workers were in there. physically, trying to brace the shelves so that they weren t falling over. most of the damage is broken bottles and wine bottles. the damage in the northern part of the country much greater and now hearing reports that 200 to 300 bodies have been found in sendai near the epicenter of this earthquake. and also, a massive tsunami that has hit japan. and now, is making its way even to the united states where we re seeing the effects of that as we speak. joining me from miami is marine and earth scientist ellen preager who wrote the science and nature of earthquakes, volcanos and casi s and tsunami give me an idea of this experience of earthquakes. well, clearly, you know, this
j jim, they re estimating the death toll of a thousand there in japan. what s the military response to help japan? reporter: first, it s important to report for those americans who have friends, family that are service members in japan, most u.s. military bases in japan are located in the far south, far enough away from the epicenter and the tsunami itself so there s nobody seriously injured at the bases so they the u.s. military dodged that bullet. shortly afternoon, before the japanese made a formal request for humanitarian assistance, the u.s. navy sprung into action and started to prepare for the kind of humanitarian relief that will be needed in northern japan. there are at least six of the
is one of the biggest earthquakes we have seen in since, you know, the 1900s. little bit smaller than the indian ocean one but really the issue here is the prize and also in this case because it s the sea floor going up or down and triggers a tsunami and just seeing the horrendous pictures of the walls of water that are making a way into japan. looking at the live pictures now in santa cruz, california, we can take you to kntv s live picture over the marina, what we re seeing there is the flow pushing these boats out of their slips, ripping out docks and capsizing some of the boats and now the ebb of the water pulling all of this stuff back out to sea. right. well, that s right. you can think of it as a wave is kind of misnomer. it is a surge of water. all that water goes on shore and then it has to go somewhere and