Massive earthquake hits Japan

Tomakomai pier in Hokkaido, Japan, is submerged after a tsunami unleashed by Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into the nation's eastern coast on Friday, March 11.

Houses burn after the earthquake and tsunami in Natori City, in northeastern Japan.

People walk by a crushed bus stop that was hit by a fallen outer wall of a building in Sendai.

People nap Friday night as they stay at the Tokyo City Hall because train and bus services were suspended.

Japan declared a nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the quake knocked out power that crippled the cooling system of one of the facility's six reactors. About 3,000 residents were evacuated from a 1.8-mile radius of the plant. The government announced that the plant would release slightly radioactive vapor to lower the pressure in an effort to protect it from a possible meltdown.

Boats are swept away by a wave in Asahikawa city.

Evacuees take a shelter during blackout in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture.

A worker inspects a caved-in section of the Joban Motorway near Mito, Ibaraki prefecture.

Residents walk through rubble from collapsed houses in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture.

A massive tsunami hits the coastal areas of Iwanuma, Miyagi prefecture.

Hotel employees squat at the hotel's entrance in Tokyo after the earthquake hit.

Residents look at a collapsed house in Sukagawa city, Fukushima prefecture, in northern Japan.

Tsunami tidal waves hit houses after a powerful earthquake in Natori on Friday, March 11.

Toya Chiba, a reporter for local newspaper Iwate Tokai Shimbun, is swept away while taking pictures at the mouth of the Owatari River during the tsunami at Kamaishi port, Iwate prefecture. Chiba managed to survive in the rush of water by grabbing a dangling rope and climbing onto a coal heap around 30 feet high after being swept away for about 100 feet, Kyodo News reports.

Tsunami swirls near a port in Oarai, Ibaraki prefecture.

Evacuees comfort each other in Shinjuku Central Park in Tokyo.

Cars and airplanes swept by a tsunami are pictured among debris at Sendai airport, northeastern Japan.

Natural gas containers burn at a facility in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo.

Tarmac, parking lot and surrounding area are covered with mud and debris carried by the tsunami at Sendai airport.

A Japanese traveler wipes away tears as she talks over the telephone at Incheon international airport in South Korea on March 11. Flights were disrupted after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit Japan's Pacific coast.

Vehicles on a damaged road in Yabuki, in southern Fukushima prefecture.

An aerial shot shows vehicles ready for shipping piled like dominoes after a tsunami tidal wave hit Hitachinaka city in Ibaraki prefecture.

Women wait on the street after evacuating a building following an earthquake in Tokyo.

Evacuated employees stand on rooftops near toppled tanks at a brewery in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

An aerial view of a tsunami swamped Sendai airport in northeastern Japan.

Cars and other debris swept away by tsunami tidal waves are seen in Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan.

People watch the aftermath of tsunami tidal waves covering a port at Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan.

Wrecked houses smolder amid the water of a tsunami wave near Sendai airport in Japan.

An overturned boat is seen after being washed ashore by a tsunami wave in Hachinohe in this still image taken from video footage.

Houses set on fire and engulfed by water following a tsunami and earthquake in Natori City in northeastern Japan.

Two men look at smoke rising over the Tokyo skyline after the earthquake struck.

An office building burns in Tokyo after the earthquake.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan reacts as he feels an earthquake while attending a committee meeting in the upper house of parliament in Tokyo.

Vehicles are crushed by a collapsed wall at a parking lot in Mito city in Ibaraki prefecture on March 11 after a massive earthquake rocked Japan.

People take shelter as a ceiling collapses in a bookstore during a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Sendai, northeastern Japan.

A tsunami carries boats across waters in Kamaishi city port in Japan on Friday, in this still image taken from video footage.

Injured people are attended to by emergency personnel in downtown Tokyo following the earthquake on Friday.

Office workers in the Shiodome district near Tokyo Bay stay on the pedestrian deck, observing surrounding high-rise office and hotel buildings swaying shortly after the quake.

A building burns in the Odaiba district of Tokyo, Japan on Friday.

Reporters at the Associated Press Tokyo Bureau take shelter under a table during the earthquake Friday afternoon.