Tokyo, March 24 (DPA): Authorities said on Thursday that the March 11 earthquake caused a 23.6-metre-high tsunami in parts of north-east Japan as the death toll in the disaster edged closer to 10,000, reports said.
The giant wave hit the town of Ofunato in Iwate prefecture following a magnitude 9 earthquake, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing the Port and Airport Research Institute.
Police said the confirmed death toll in the earthquake and tsunami disasters stood at 9,700. Another 16,501 people were reported missing.
Construction work on temporary housing began in Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture. Building work was due to begin on similar housing in Ofunato and Miyako, also in Iwate, on Friday.
The Tohoku Expressway, a major road linking Tokyo and the quake- and tsunami-hit areas in the north-east of the country, reopened to all traffic on Thursday. It was previously limited to emergency vehicles and those transporting relief goods and workers.
