has been stopped. airports closed in tokyo, a great earthquake has hit japan. magnitude 8.4 in northern japan. the agency has been warning the tsunami everness is the quake. and a tsunami has hit the miyagi area as our camera crew are up covering and showing you exactly what is going on. the deputy chief cabinet secretary told reporters on friday that the governor of miyagi prefecture where it has hit hardest has asked the government to send self-defense force units to deal with the situation. the defense ministry official say south defense force personnel are currently contacting local governments and related agency to assess the extent of the damage.