Fill in each numbered space with ONE appropriate word.
TSUNAMI IN JAPAN
Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were (1) …………………… away by a wall of water after the 8.9 - magnitude tremor, which struck about 400 kms (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant, (2) …………………… pressure has exceeded normal levels. Officials say more than 10,000 people are dead and about 7,000 (3) …………………… but it is feared the final death toll will be (4) …………………… higher. In one ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found. “The quake has been the fifth-largest in the world (5) …………………… 1900 and nearly 8,000 (6) …………………… stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month”, said scientists. Thousands of people (7) …………………… near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate. Japanese nuclear officials said that pressure inside a boiling water reactor at the plant was running much higher than normal after the cooling system failed. Officials said they might need to deliberately (8) …………………… some radioactive steam to relieve pressure, but that there would be no health risk. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier said the US Air Force had flown emergency coolant to the site. But US officials later said (9) …………………… coolant had been handed over because the Japanese had decided to handle the situation (10) …………………… The UN's nuclear agency said four nuclear power plants had been shut down safely.
Cars, ships and buildings were (1) …………………… away by a wall of water after the 8.9 - magnitude tremor, which struck about 400 kms (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.
