Japanese automakers halted production.

From The Star Motoring, today.

TOKYO: Japanese automakers halted production at assembly plants in areas hit by Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake. One Honda worker died after being crushed by a collapsing wall.

More than 30 other people were injured when walls and parts of a ceiling crumbled at a Honda Motor Co. research facility in northeastern Tochigi prefecture, the company said.

Production at two Honda plants was halted, but resumed shortly afterward at one, it said.

Waves of tsumanis sweeping ashore along Iwanuma in northern Japan on Friday. - AP

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker, shut down two auto assembly plants, in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.

There were no immediate reports of injuries among its workers, spokesman Monika Saito said. Parts makers were also shut down, she said.

Nissan Motor Co. halted production at five of its plants in northeastern Japan and in the Yokohama area near Tokyo. It said two workers were slightly injured at its Tochigi plant and its technical centre in Kanagawa prefecture, near Tokyo.

The quake, the biggest in magnitude in modern Japanese history, left hundreds of people dead or missing, and triggered a tsunami that swept over towns, farms and an airport.
-AP