US appears to have escaped major tsunami damage-Daley, Posted by Meosha Eaton

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The United States appears to be out of major danger from a tsunami caused by an earthquake near Japan, White House chief of staff Bill Daley said on Friday.

"The tsunami wave has gone through Hawaii and there does not seem to be any enormous impact, which is extremely encouraging," Daley said at a meeting of the President's Export Council.

There is still some risk to the U.S. West Coast, "but I think the enormous fears that that were there hours ago, for some of us hours ago, has diminished greatly, which is quite a relief for all of us," Daley said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Doina Chiacu)

* Quake, wall of water kill at least 44
    * Now Pacific islands at threat from tsunami
    * Houses, ships, cars tossed around like toys
   
    By Chisa Fujioka and Elaine Lies
    TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - The biggest earthquake to hit
Japan on record struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering
a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path,
including houses, ships, cars and farm buildings on fire.
    The Red Cross in Geneva said the wall of water was higher
than some Pacific islands and a tsunami warning was issued for
almost the entire Pacific basin.
    At least 44 people had been killed in the quake and tsunami
in Japan, broadcaster NHK said, adding that many were missing.
The extent of the destruction along a lengthy stretch of Japan's
coastline suggested the death toll could rise significantly.
    The 8.9 magnitude quake, the most powerful since Japan
started keeping records 140 years ago, caused many injuries and
sparked fires while the tsunami prompted warnings to people to
move to higher ground in coastal areas.
    "The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in
northern Japan," Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters.
    Some nuclear power plants and oil refineries were shut down
and a refinery was ablaze.
             


    Around 4.4 million homes were without power in northern
Japan, media said. A hotel collapsed in the city of Sendai and
people were feared buried in the rubble.
    A ship carrying 100 people had been swept away by the
tsunami, Kyodo news agency added.
    Electronics giant Sony Corp , one of the country's
biggest exporters, shut six factories, as air force jets raced
toward the northeast coast to determine the extent of the
damage. 
    The Bank of Japan, which has been struggling to boost the
anaemic economy, said it would do its utmost to ensure financial
market stability as the yen and Japanese shares fell.
    "I was terrified and I'm still frightened," said Hidekatsu
Hata, 36, manager of a Chinese noodle restaurant in Tokyo, where
buildings shook violently. "I've never experienced such a big
quake before."
    The Philippine and Indonesia issued tsunami alerts, reviving
memories of the giant tsunami which struck Asia in 2004. The
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for countries to
the west and across the Pacific as far away as Colombia and
Peru.
    The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world
in the past century.
    There were several strong aftershocks. In Tokyo, there was
widespread panic. An oil refinery near the city was on fire,
with dozens of storage tanks under threat.
    "People are flooding the streets. It's incredible. Everyone
is trying to get home but I didn't see any taxis in Ginza, where
there are usually plenty," said Koji Goto, a 43-year-old Tokyo
resident.
    TV footage showed a muddy wall of water carrying debris
across a large swathe of coastal farmland near the city of
Sendai, which has a population of one million. Ships in once
coastal area were lifted from the sea into a harbour where they
lay helplessly on their side.
    Sendai is 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo and the
epicentre at sea was not far away.
    NHK television showed flames and black smoke billowing from
a building in Odaiba, a Tokyo suburb, and bullet trains to the
north of the country were halted.    Thick smoke was also
pouring out of an industrial area in Yokohama's Isogo area. TV
showed residents of the city running out of shaking buildings,
shielding their heads with their hands from falling masonry.
    TV footage showed boats, cars and trucks tossed around like
toys in the water after a small tsunami hit the town of Kamaichi
in northern Japan. An overpass, location unknown, appeared to
have collapsed and cars were turning around and speeding away. 
Kyodo said there were reports of fires in Sendai where waves
carried cars across the runway at the airport.
    "The building shook for what seemed a long time and many
people in the newsroom grabbed their helmets and some got under
their desks," Reuters correspondent Linda Sieg said in Tokyo.
"It was probably the worst I have felt since I came to Japan
more than 20 years ago."
    The U.S. navy said its ships had been unaffected by the
tsunami and were ready to provide disaster relief if needed.
China offered to provide earthquake relief.
    The quake struck just before the Tokyo stock market closed,
pushing the Nikkei down to end at a five-week low. Nikkei
futures trading in Osaka tumbled as much as 4.7 percent in
reaction to the news.
    The disaster also weighed on markets elsewhere.
   
    GREAT KANTO QUAKE    The quake was the biggest since records
began 140 years ago, according to the Japan Meteorological
Agency. It surpasses the Great Kanto quake of Sept. 1, 1923,
which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people
in the Tokyo area.
    The 1995 Kobe quake caused $100 billion in damage and was
the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage
from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10
billion.
    Passengers on a subway line in Tokyo screamed and grabbed
other passengers' hands during the quake. The shaking was so bad
it was hard to stand, said Reuters reporter Mariko Katsumura.
    Hundreds of office workers and shoppers spilled into
Hitotsugi street, a shopping street in Akasaka in downtown
Tokyo.
    Household goods ranging from toilet paper to clingfilm were
flung into the street from outdoor shelves in front of a
drugstore.
    Crowds gathered in front of televisions in a shop next to
the drugstore for details. After the shaking from the first
quake subsided, crowds watched and pointed to construction
cranes on an office building up the street with voices saying,
"They're still shaking!", "Are they going to fall?"
    Asagi Machida, 27, a web designer in Tokyo, sprinted from a
coffee shop when the quake hit.
    "The images from the New Zealand earthquake are still fresh
in my mind so I was really scared. I couldn't believe such a big
earthquake was happening in Tokyo."
    The U.S. Geological Survey earlier verified a magnitude of
7.9 at a depth of 15.1 miles and located the quake 81 miles east
of Sendai, on the main island of Honshu. It later upgraded it to
8.9.
    Japan's northeast Pacific coast, called Sanriku, has
suffered from quakes and tsunamis in the past and a 7.2 quake
struck on Wednesday. In 1933, a magnitude 8.1 quake in the area
killed more than 3,000 people.
    Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's mostismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20
percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
(Writing by John Chalmers and Miral Fahmy; Tokyo bureau and Asia
Desk, Editing by Dean Yates; Singapore +65 6870 3815)

US to help Egypt and Tunisia to Recover

Clinton to visit Egypt, Tunisia next week, Posted by Meosha Eaton

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Egypt and Tunisia next week, becoming the most senior American official to visit the region after popular revolts toppled U.S.-allied governments in both countries.

"I intend to convey strong support of the Obama administration and the American people, that we wish to be a partner in the important work that lies ahead," Clinton told a congressional panel on Thursday.
She said she would meet Libyan opposition figures during the trip and in the United States.

(reporting by Andrew Quinn; editing by Doina Chiacu)

Gaddafi tanks, jets strike deeper into rebel heartland, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Tanks move in, fire on rebels outside oil port Ras Lanuf
* Libyan warplanes bomb oil town Brega further to east
* Libyan army siege seeks to starve out rebels in Zawiyah
* NATO, EU ministers to discuss "no-fly zone"
* France recognises rebel council

(Adds gov't forces advancing in east, France recognises rebels)

By Mohammed Abbas and Alexander Dziadosz

RAS LANUF, Libya, March 10 (Reuters) - Libyan tanks fired on rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf and warplanes hit another oil hub further east on Thursday as Muammar Gaddafi carried counter-attacks deeper into the insurgent heartland. In the west, Gaddafi's army sought to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of Zawiyah after see-saw battles this week but the rebels took an important step toward international legitimacy when France recognised their national council.

NATO and the European Union were considering imposing a "no-fly" zone over the large North African desert state to stop Gaddafi using jets and helicopters against the rebels, who have seized cities east and west of the capital Tripoli. More than 500 km (300 miles) to the east, Gaddafi's forces bombarded Ras Lanuf anew with projectiles crashing close to a building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.

There was a series of air strikes, and insurgents fired rockets out to sea to counter Libyan gunboats targeting their positions in the oil-producing east.
Later, at least two tanks were seen advancing towards rebel positions outside Ras Lanuf and opening fire.

The rebels also reported an air strike on Brega, another oil port 90 km (50 miles) east of Ras Lanuf, indicating that Gaddafi loyalists had not only halted a westwards insurgent push in its tracks but were making inroads into the rebels' eastern centres.
Brega had not been targeted for several days.

During fighting in the east on Wednesday, an engineer told Al Jazeera television he had seen air strikes on eastern oil facilities, apparently the first time such a complex was hit.
OPEC member Libya was turning away tankers from ports as storage depots dried up because of supply disruptions caused by the fighting, which has paralyzed exports by Africa's third largest producer and a major supplier to Europe. The Gaddafi counter-offensive has stalled a rebel advance from their eastern power base of Benghazi. They were forced to withdraw from the front-line town of Bin Jawad, just west of Ras Lanuf, after coming under heavy shelling earlier this week.

One fighter said rebels had retaken the heart of Zawiyah, the closest city -- 50 km (30 miles) west -- to Gaddafi's main stronghold Tripoli, from the army overnight. The centre appeared to change hands twice during the day in a hard-fought battle.
"We fought until after three in the morning. It's all quiet here this morning," said the insurgent, named Ibrahim, by phone.

Mohamed, a Libyan in exile abroad who got through to a relative on the outskirts of Zawiyah on Thursday morning, said it was simply not clear who was winning the battle for the city but the army had it under siege to break the rebels' will. "Yesterday (rebel sympathisers) tried to bring food and medicine from Subratha but failed. Government troops surround Zawiyah from everywhere. It is unclear who controls the centre. It changes all the time. It's street to street fighting."
Authorities have kept journalists away from Zawiyah.

Military analysts believe Gaddafi may focus on quelling the revolt to the west before turning on the east, where the rebel-held city of Misrata, which residents said has been quiet for the past few days, would lie first in their path. "Gaddafi forces are around the outside the city. They suffered a big defeat in Misrata. But they have heavy weapons," said an insurgent. "We are ready to defend any attack they launch even if we know it's going to be at a heavy price."


FRENCH RECOGNITION
France became the first significant country on Thursday to recognise the rebel Libyan National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. An official at President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said France would send an ambassador to Benghazi and receive a Libyan envoy in Paris. He was speaking after Sarkozy met officals from the Libyan National Council.

The Pentagon said it was preparing a "full range" of military options for Libya, including a no-fly zone. Plans were to be discussed by NATO ministers at talks in Brussels on Thursday. Military officers said a zone could be set up quickly. Rebel forces have appealed to Washington and its allies to impose a no-fly zone to deny Gaddafi's forces the advantage of using warplanes and prevent him moving troops by helicopter.

A no fly zone could also help protect civilians who have been caught in the fighting, with scores if not more people reported killed so far in cities like Zawiyah. A burgeoning humanitarian emergency could hasten a no fly zone decision.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Libya had descended into civil war with increasing numbers of wounded civilians arriving in hospitals in the east.

ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger called on Libyan authorities to grant the  Humanitarian agency access to western areas including the capital Tripoli and reminded both sides that civilians and medical facilities must not be targeted.

General Raymond Odierno, commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command, said the U.S. military was probably capable of establishing a "no-fly" zone over Libya "within a couple of days" if the international community so decided.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made it clear imposing a no-fly zone is a matter for the United Nations and should not be a U.S.-led initiative. Russia and China, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, oppose the idea, which could entail bombing Libyan air defences as a first step.

Italy, whose bases could play a critical role in any military action, has said it will back any decisions taken by NATO, the EU or the United Nations, clearing the way for U.S. naval forces based in Naples to be deployed if needed.


LINE IN THE DESERT
Counter-attacks by Gaddafi loyalists suggest the flamboyant leader, in power for four decades, will not go as quietly or quickly as fellow leaders in Egypt and Tunisia did in a tide of popular unrest rolling across the Arab world.

An upsurge of fighting appears to have cemented a de facto split of Africa's fourth biggest country into a government-held western area around Tripoli and an eastern region held by ragged but dedicated rebel forces.

EU foreign ministers will also discuss North Africa in Brussels on Thursday, focusing on how they can support the process of transition in Egypt and Tunisia, while using sanctions and other means to apply pressure on Gaddafi.

Two members of Libya's opposition council visited the European Parliament on Wednesday and said they wanted EU moral support, political recognition and a no-fly zone shielding the territory they hold -- but not any form of military intervention in a country sensitive about former colonial domination.


RUSSIA CUTS OFF ARMS TO LIBYA
In another move to isolate the Libyan leader, Russia will ban all weapons sales to Libya, the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday, effectively suspending its arms contracts with the government of Gaddafi.

Libya's top oil official said the unrest had cut output to about half a million barrels per day from 1.6 million, but the oil industry was still centrally coordinated. Brent crude oil rebounded above $116 a barrel, renewing fears global economic recovery could be hit. Gaddafi has said he will die in Libya rather than flee. But a Libyan-born analyst said Gaddafi's inner circle had approached countries in Africa and Latin America about giving him refuge.


(Additional reporting by Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi, Mariam Karouny in Ras Jdir, Mohammed Abbas in Ras Lanuf, Piotr Pilat in Benghazi, Alexander Dziadosz in Ajdabiya, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Luke Baker in Brussels, Ross Colvin and Andrew Quinn in Washington, Stefano Ambrogi and William Maclean in London, John Irish in Paris, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; writing by Mark Heinrich; editing by Giles Elgood)