Residents of the Miyagi prefecture in northeast Japan, severely hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami on Friday, are experiencing a shortage of drinking water and food but there is no panic and no cases of looting were registered in the area, an eyewitness told RIA Novosti on Sunday.
"Gas and water have been switched off in Miyagi and the central city of Sendai. With rare exceptions, electricity is also off. But there is no panic either in the streets or shops," the eyewitness, who arrived in Miyagi several hours after the earthquake, said.
The tremor was the most powerful ever recorded in Japan, registering nine points on the Richter scale and causing a 10-meter tsunami wave that swept away people, houses and cars.
"Now the shops have changed the style of their work. Buyers are not admitted inside out of fear that people might hoard food products and the foodstuffs may be spread unevenly among residents," he said.
Every shop has only one door open to give the necessary amount of food and water to every resident. There are long lines but no panic among residents, he said.
One small shop can serve as a good example of what is going on in the city, he said.
"The shop has all its windows and its glass door broken. There is an ATM and shelves with food products inside the shop and no one is guarding it. However, not a person has ever entered it and nothing has been looted," the witnesses said.
TOKYO, March 13 (RIA Novosti)
