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Houses are swept up by a tsunami near Sendai Airport after an earthquake on March 11, 2011. (Mainichi)
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TOKYO (AP) -- A powerful tsunami spawned by the largest earthquake in Japan's history slammed the eastern coast Friday, sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people as widespread fires burned out of control. A local news report said at least 15 people were killed.

The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake was followed by at least 19 aftershocks, most of them of more than magnitude 6.0. Dozens of cities and villages along the 2,100-kilometer stretch of the country's eastern shore were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter in the sea off the northeastern coast.