Key figures following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday.
Death Toll:
- The death toll is expected to exceed 10,000, with northeastern prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima most severely hit. More than 3,000 people were confirmed dead, but officials still cannot reach more than 15,000 people to confirm whether they are safe, Japan's NHK public broadcaster says.
Evacuations:
- Some 550,000 people have been evacuated from 10 prefectures Hundreds of people are waiting for help in isolated areas and have no access to food.
Damage to Buildings:
- More than 76,000 buildings have been damaged, including at least 6,300 completely destroyed, NHK says.
Countries Offering Aid:
- According to Japanese foreign ministry, 102 countries and 14 international organisations have offered assistance.
- The Japanese government declined an Irish offer of aid, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said yesterday
Impact on Economy:
- Citigroup expects 5-10 trillion yen in damage to housing and infrastructure, while Barclays estimates economic losses of 15 trillion yen (€131 billion) or 3 per cent of Japan's GDP.
- UBS expects Japan's economy to grow 1.4 per cent this year, compared with its previous forecast of 1.5 per cent expansion. But it upgraded its growth forecast for 2012 to 2.5 per cent, up from the previous estimate of 2.1 per cent.
- As concern about the crippling economic impact of the nuclear and earthquake disasters mounted, the Nikkei share average closed down 10.55 per cent today, while broader TOPIX share index lost 9.5 per cent - both the worst single-day slides since the global selloff after the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.