Live TV coverage from Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Chinese parents who lost their only child in last month's Christchurch earthquake will not be getting special compensation, Prime Minister John Key says.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says the thoughts of his quake-stricken city are with Japan following Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake which devastated much of the country and left thousands dead.

Japanese officials have confirmed a second hydrogen explosion has occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, while a warning of a second tsunami has been cancelled.

More than half a million people have been forced from their homes in quake and tsunami-hit northern Japan, petrol has run dry and supermarkets are empty in what its prime minister says is the worst crisis to hit Japan since WWII.

The mothers of two former All Blacks based in Japan feared the worst when Friday's deadly earthquake and tsunami hit.

Japanese officials warned of a possible second explosion at a nuclear plant crippled by the earthquake and tsunami as they raced to stave off multiple reactor meltdowns, but they provided few details about whether they were making progress.

Read the latest accounts from people around the world via Facebook and Twitter.

The Robinson family of Nelson breathed a huge sigh of relief this morning when they finally reached their daughter in Japan.

A compilation of some of the most remarkable video to emerge from Friday night's disaster in Japan

It is starting to feel like elements of Hiroshima, Kobe and the Asian tsunami combined.