video transcript

Japan continues its emergency response to the largest earthquake to strike the country since records began. As the full of extent of the devastation is revealed, Japan's Meteorological Agency has upgraded the earthquake from 8.9 to 9.0 on the Richter scale- making it one of the largest the world has ever seen. The agency's director said it was upgraded after analysing the extent of the tremor. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY DIRECTOR, TAKASHI YOKOTA: "We have discovered that this massive earthquake occurred three times continuously." The quake struck off the northeast of the country, triggering a powerful tsunami that left a trail of destruction in its path. Whole neighbourhoods were turned into rubble, with cars and ships strewn across them. A military air base also suffered damage- with planes tossed about by the force of torrents. Scenes like these are testament to the tsunami's destructive power - which comes from the sheer volume of water moving at high speed in a series of waves. More than 1,800 people are suspected to have died as a result of this natural disaster, and thousands are still unaccounted for. Simon Hanna, Reuters.