before the tsunami struck, japan was shaken by a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake. cnn i-reporters on the scene right after the first tremors hit. here is what they saw. the ground was rolling for an extended period of time. i wasn t exactly sure what to do or where to go. i d never been prepared for anything like this. we hung on to the outside of our house. you couldn t even stand up. at the peak of these waves washing over the ground, you literally could not stay on your feet. you had to kind of crouch down in a ball or put your back against something so you didn t fall.
well, it s a subduction zone. so it s a place where two tectonic plates are coming together. you actually have like the pacific plate is actually subducting or going beneath the plate that japan is sitting on. these are areas in the earth where you build up a lot of stress because these plates are moving fast and eventually the fault can t take the stress and it breaks. they don t always break. obviously with this size. it s not unprecedented. it would be about the fifth biggest earthquake that we ve recorded. but japan knew that and has prepared for very large events to come. all right. talk to me about aftershocks. what is actually happening when they occur? and how do they differ from the actual earthquake itself? if you build up a lot of stress on a fault and you break it, you don t break every single part of the fault.
came from 5, 6, 7 kilometers away. you saw the reports, the strength. it picked up everything in its path. cars, houses, trucks, ships, and threw them around like toys. so how people would withstand that, it s virtually impossible, becky. yeah, absolutely devastating. anna coren for us. japan has accepted offers of search and rescue teams from australia, new zealand, south korea, and the united states. and the u.s. has also sent navy ships to help japan with relief. it s also helping with what president obama calls lift capacity. that means heavy lifting equipment. the u.s. also sent supplies to help cool nuclear reactors there. poland is offering to send firefighters. president medvedev says russia has offered rescuers and sniffer dogs and all possible aid. and thailand offering about
along the coast that are out of electricity, people in hospitals that need to be evacuated. so the needs are enormous for airlifts since most of the roads going into that area are closed. so that s the capability the u.s. can bring to augment the japanese. and if i said anything else, i don t mean any disrespect to the japanese self-defense force. understood. thanks so much for your time. we re going to be right back with the latest developments including reports of another earthquake. stay with us. ocid most calcium supplemts. t adththod it s dif - alcium crhea the one time of year red lobster creates
the day after the most powerful earthquake ever to rock japan. we re getting a better idea of the size and scope of the disaster. it is massive and heartbreaking. japan s prime minister putting the call out for help and the united states responding. we ll tell you how. and this morning, a dangerous new threat, an explosion, and a leak from one of the damaged nuclear power plants. the world is watching, it s waiting, it s ready to help. from cnn center in atlanta, it s march 12th, i m randi kaye. and i m andrew stephens in hong kong. we d like to welcome viewers in the united states and around the world to our special coverage of the disaster in japan. it is now 10:00 at night in japan. most rescue operations have stopped, but the concern over more aftershocks even more tsunamis remains. there have been more than 180