Scale of destruction in the Miyagi prefecture. Photo: PAP/EPA

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has offered emergency aid to Japan in the wake of Friday's cataclysm.

By Monday morning the official death toll had reached 2,800, but over 10,000 people are believed to have perished in Miyagi prefecture alone, an area that was especially desolated by the tsunami.

“We are above all ready to provide rescue services,” said Tusk, “because everyone should give what they can manage best.”

“At the very first signal from those coordinating the emergency action on the ground that what we have to offer is needed, we will be there immediately,” the prime minister assured.

In an effort to explain Poland’s measured response to the crisis, Tusk expressed that he wanted to avoid the scenario that had occurred in Haiti.

“The help that was sent there was not always sensible,” the Prime Minister postulated, adding that “it is not about a demonstration to ourselves saying ‘look how good we are’, but about truly helping people.”

Magnitude of losses unfolds

Friday’s earthquake was the worst in Japan’s history, and the extent of the losses was still unfolding on Monday.

1.9 million households remain without electricity, and 1.4 million without running water. The scale of the desolation has not been witnessed in the country since World War II, Japanese Prime Minister Kan announced earlier.

A further explosion at the nuclear plant damaged on Friday in Fukushima took today, but officials have reported that the reactor core remains intact.

At present, experts are guardedly optimistic that a Chernobyl-type disaster can be averted.

However, approximately 200,000 people have been evacuated from the region surrounding the plant, amidst fears of radiation.

The government has already announced that it is pouring 15 trillion yen (182 billion US dollars) into the country’s slumping markets.

Meawhile, thousands are living in makeshift accomodation, with only 10 percent of the necessary food supplies reaching those worst afflicted. (nh/jb)

Source: PAP/IAR/BBC/AP