after the country s strongest earthquake on record and the most powerful in the region in 1200 years. the 8.9 magnitude event was followed by dozens of severe aftershocks. radiation surged around a nuclear plant, 170 miles from tokyo. and inside grew to 1,000 times normal levels prompting the evacuations of thousands of people. more than 4 million buildings in and around the capital city were without power. the quake spawned a 23-foot tsunami. and prompted warnings as far away as the u.s. western shore. the tsunami slammed in to japan s eastern coast. sweeping away ships, cars and homes. and sparking widespread fires. seven-foot waves hit hawaii. two coastal california towns report damages to boats and docks. president obama today has alerted fema, and said the u.s. stands ready to help the people of japan. joining me now is japan s ambassador to the u.s. ichiro fujisaki.
the development in libya and it was a big development this week when france decided to recognize the transitional government and the opposition of libya as the government. yes, and france is distancing itself from the united states and germany, and the uk and france on one hand and the united states and germany on the other. they are more enthusiastic about the no-fly zone idea, and the united states is a lot cooler on it, so it is going to be interesting to see how much violence and bloodshed it will take potentially for all of the countries to get together within a nato framework and with u.n. backing to do something militarily in libya. i want to introduce the viewers in the united states and around the world, i m ali velshi with hala gorani with this historic disaster. we are still on the lookout for high waves on the west coast where the beaches have been closed all night, and within the past few hours, six or seven-foot waves hit hawaii, but no reports of injury or serious
to go with the flow, so to speak that they have lost the mooring and crashing into each other. it has been bumper boats for the last hour or so, and i have been watching that out of santa cruz harbor. reports from social media more than anything else, and this is now maui had a nine-foot storm surge in the maria na. not a big marina, but you know cheeseburger in paradise and all of the places there by the water, some of the places up to the second floor there. this is a rear facing beach in hawaii and all of the energy ran right into it. you see the better shot there how the bumper boats are bumping into each other for the past couple of hours here. that is california. so, we expect this entire area to continue to move with one wave after another. there are four waves. the heaviest waves and the biggest waves may affect south
ours and i have such a close personal friendship and connection to the japanese people in part because i grew up in hawaii where i was very familiar with japanese culture that, that just makes, you know, our concerns that much more acute. but, i m very confident though obviously that the japanese people are so resourceful. japan is such a powerful economy. and such an advanced economy technologically that japan will successfully rebuild. and it has experienced dealing with natural disasters. it has dealt with them before, and it will deal with them again, and japan, i am sure will come back stronger than ever hopefully with our help. all right. thank you very much, everybody. all right. president obama leaving the briefing room after a conversation with the reporters. a full press conference that was supposed to be about energy prices. i m ali velshi.
three foot wave. it could knock you down. imagine what a 20 foot wave could do. it s hard to imagine. never turn your back to the ocean. the world is not out of the woods on the effects of this tsunami yet. absolutely not. this is bouncing around the ocean. the animation brings it down. went through hawaii, nine foot waves there, through crescent city, eight foot waves there. unconfirmed reports of people getting taken out to sea. don t know if they came back in or not. the reason, don t stand on the beach. the waves are still out there. thank you, chad. how terrifying was today s earthquake in japan? we re going to find out from two men who were right in the middle of it. [ woman ] when you want ak that travels with you. with you when you re ready for the next move. [ male announcer ] now that wells fargo and wachovia have come together, what s in it for you? unprecedented strength, the stability of the leading community bank in the nation and with 12,000 atms and thousands of