We are borrowing Gideon’s blog to cover Japan’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake. We will be tapping our correspondents in Japan and the region, as well as our specialist writers. We welcome any input from you our readers. I am Leyla Boulton, the FT’s main news integrator and a former FT correspondent in Russia and Turkey. All times are London time.
This post should update automatically every few minutes, although it may take longer on mobile devices.
1040 - The UK’s foreign office says it has established a helpline for individuals in the UK concerned about the safety of friends and relatives in Japan. The number is 020 7008 0000.
1039 - Russian authorities say they have evacuated some 11,000 residents from coastal areas on the Kuril islands in the Pacific. The islands are normally a source of tension between Moscow and Tokyo, which would like them back after they were seized by the Soviet Union in the final days of World War II.
1036 – Michiyo Nakamoto, one of our Tokyo correspondents, says email has become Japan’s main source of communication as phone lines are down all across the country and cell phone contact is severely disrupted. The internet is also available to large numbers of people without wireless access in areas where the electricity has been cut off.
1033 – Taiwan’s central weather bureau is saying that the tsunami has reached Taiwan but has not caused any major damage, according to AFP.
1031 – Sony halts operations at six factories in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan .
1029 - Tokyo’s Narita Airport, Japan’s main international gateway, cancels all flights for the rest of the day.
1021 - The four Japanese nuclear power plants closest to the earthquake have been safely shut down, the International Atomic Energy Agency is quoted as saying by Reuters.
1017 – The quake is felt in some parts of Beijing, with some residents downtown and in suburban areas saying they noticed their hanging lights swaying and a rolling sensation in taller buildings, reports Jamil Anderlini, our bureau chief. In some parts of town residents even rush out of taller buildings after feeling the tremor. Mainland China is unlikely to be “obviously affected” by the quake, a top Chinese seismological official tells Chinese state media.
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