Japan Toll: 1,700 Dead; 9,500 Missing

As 1,700 were likely killed in Japan by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, one town on the coast is reporting 9,500 unaccounted for. That figure is about half the population of Minamisanriku, a small town on the Pacific. In Shirakawa, rescuers tried to reach 13 people whose homes were swallowed when the earth opened up. In other towns, military helicopters picked people up from rooftops. Over 70 specialist rescue operations from around the world have offered their services, and crews from Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea have requested to join a 150-member U.S. team on its way to the northeast of the country. Google has launched an online database to help people get in contact with friends and relatives, and Japan's mobile phone carriers have created a digital bulletin board where people can post 100-character messages looking for missing people. Though limited rail service has resumed, flight cancellations have left 23,000 people stranded in two Tokyo airports, and 6 million people continue to be without electricity.