The death toll from Friday's disaster was likely to exceed 10,000 as whole villages and towns were wiped off the map by a wall of water, leaving in its wake an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.
Nuclear plant operators worked frantically to try to keep temperatures down in several troubled reactors, wrecking at least two by dumping sea water into them in last-ditch efforts to avoid meltdowns. Officials warned of a second explosion but said it would not pose a health threat.
Near-freezing temperatures compounded the misery of survivors along hundreds of miles of the northeastern coast battered by the tsunami that smashed inland with breathtaking fury. Rescuers pulled bodies from mud-covered jumbles of wrecked houses, shattered tree trunks, twisted cars and tangled power lines while survivors examined the ruined remains.
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