New photos show tsunami hitting nuke plant (+ pics)

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has released photos showing its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant being swamped by the tsunami on March 11.

The Japanese company showed 17 photographs that were taken from two locations within the plant.

Eleven of them were taken from the 4th floor of a waste processing facility near the Number 4 reactor over a 15 minute period from 3.42pm, when the first wave reached the plant roughly one hour after the massive earthquake struck.

By 3.43pm muddy seawater had engulfed a 4.3-metre tall fuel tank and washed away cars.

The water began receding after another minute.

At 3.57pm, the fuel tank was visible again, but the only car still visible had been flipped upside down.

Other photos, taken from near the Number 5 reactor, capture the tsunami approaching three water and fuel tanks on the coast.

The photos show the tanks and around 7 cars disappear under water.

A photo taken after the waves had receded show the bottom part of a tank twisted and dented.

- NHK WORLD