Media Center

NEWYORK, 14 March, 2011 - A powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit Japan on Friday (March 11) at 1446 local time (0546 GMT), unleashing massive tsunami waves that crashed into Japan's eastern coast of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The earthquake and tsunami have caused widespread damage and destruction. Reports of casualties are climbing and are currently estimated to be in the thousands.

Powerful aftershocks continue to batter the region. Tsunami warnings has been issued for most countries and islands in the Pacific basin including Russia, Canada, Mexico, and Central and Latin American countries including Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile and the U.S. state of Hawaii. However, alerts have since been lifted for Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, among others. 

All UNICEF colleagues in the Japanese National Committee and the Tokyo Office have been accounted for and are safe.

UNICEF is closely monitoring the situation in Japan. The Government of Japan has invested significantly in earthquake and emergency response preparedness and has not requested UNICEF support at this time.

UNICEF continues to follow the situation including the movement of tsunami waves across the Pacific region. At this point, however, there is no indication that other countries have been severely affected. UNICEF has prepositioned staff and emergency supplies throughout the region to assist vulnerable children and families should the need arise.