Quake-hit Japan asks US forces for help with relief

Japan asked US forces stationed in the country for help in relief efforts after an 8.9-magnitude quake struck on Friday and a tsunami devastated vast coastal areas, reports said.

Japan asked US forces stationed in the country for help in relief efforts after an 8.9-magnitude quake struck on Friday and a tsunami devastated vast coastal areas, reports said.

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Japan's new foreign minister Takeiaki Matsumoto, who took office this week, made the request to US Ambassador John Roos.

The United States, which occupied Japan after World War II and is now the country's main security ally, has almost 50,000 forces stationed in the country.

Many US bases are located on the far-southern island of Okinawa, far from the quake zone, while the US Seventh Fleet with an aircraft carrier battle group is located in a port south of Tokyo.