DUSHANBE, March 12, 2011, Asia-Plus — Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has sent a message of condolences to the Emperor of Japan over the massive earthquake and destructive tsunami destructive that struck north-east Japan on Friday, according to the presidential press service.
In his message, President Rahmon said he was shocked at the news of the massive earthquake and the subsequent tsunami resulting in numerous human fatalities and causing tremendous damage.
“People of Tajikistan sincerely share pain and grief of friendly Japan and are ready to do what they can to assist in mitigating effects of the dreadful disaster,” Tajik leader noted.
President Rahmon also asked to convey his deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
We will recall that according to international seismologists, a series of enormous earthquakes struck off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan on early Friday afternoon, generating huge tsunamis that devastated coastlines and has prompted tsunami warnings for dozens of countries.
The initial 8.9-magnitude earthquake at 2.46 p.m. local time (0546 GMT) was centered about 130 kilometers east of Sendai in Japan, on the nation”s main island of Honshu. It struck about 24.4 kilometers deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS estimated that approximately 2.1 million people would have felt severe shaking, which could result in heavy damage. Another 50 million could have felt strong to very strong shaking. It is one of the largest earthquakes in recorded history. Numerous large aftershocks struck soon after, the largest being a 7.1 on the Richter scale. One of the aftershocks, which had a 6.8 magnitude, struck only 67 kilometers northeast of the capital of Tokyo.
At the United Nations in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon offered his “deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences” to the Japanese people. “The world is shocked and saddened by the images coming from Japan this morning,” Ban said. “Japan is one of the most generous and strongest benefactors, coming to the assistance of those in need the world over. In that spirit, the United Nations stands by the people of Japan and we will do anything and everything we can at this very difficult time,” he added. Ban added that the UN”s Humanitarian Coordinator”s office would assess the situation and mobilize humanitarian assistance and disaster risk reduction teams as soon as possible.
