Up to 20 New Zealanders are thought to be unaccounted for in quake-stricken areas of Japan, the New Zealand ambassador in Japan says.
A magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the Japanese coast yesterday, causing widespread devastation and a death toll of at least 1000.
The quake -- 8000 times stronger than the magnitude 6.3 quake which struck Christchurch on February 22 -- and tsunami have wreaked havoc in Japan, causing oil refineries to erupt in flames; cars, bridges and entire villages to wash away; and there was the threat of a radiation leak as a cooling system at a nuclear power plant was knocked out.
Between 10 and 20 New Zealanders were unaccounted for but phone lines were working again and embassy staff were busy trying to make contact, Ian Kennedy said.
Mr Kennedy, in Tokyo, described the quake as "pretty hair-raising".
"It seemed to be going down and then it started a rocking motion, which was very unnerving," he told Radio New Zealand.
"It must have been horrific for the people closer to the epicentre."
Mr Kennedy said at least 6000 New Zealanders could be in Japan, with about 3500 registered with Japanese authorities as living in Japan and at least a further 3000 visiting the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 756 New Zealanders were registered with the ministry as travelling in Japan but not all travellers chose to register with the embassy.
New Zealand Embassy staff in Tokyo had made good progress with contacting New Zealand travellers in Japan to check their safety, despite communications difficulties, a spokesman said.
If New Zealanders held concerns about family in Japan they should first try to contact them directly before contacting the ministry.
If that failed, and the New Zealanders were thought to be in north east of Japan, then people should contact MFAT on 0800 432 111 or 64 4 439 8000 if calling from overseas.
MFAT asked New Zealanders in Japan to register their details on www.safetravel.govt.nz.
Ministry staff had closely monitored the situation in the Pacific overnight and said many Pacific countries had cancelled or downgraded their tsunami warnings.
Meanwhile, Civil Defence this morning downgraded a tsunami warning to a marine threat and minor land threat for coastal areas between Northland and the Bay of Plenty and the Chatham Islands.
