15-NOV-2006: Fishermen get ready to steam out of the port for safety at Esashicho, Hokkaido, northern Japan, Wednesday night, Nov. 15, 2006 as a tsunami alert was issued after a powerful earthquake hit off sparsely populated islands between northern Japan and the Russian Far East. (AP Photo/Hokkaido Shimbun via Kyodo News, Tatsuya Uchida) [Photo copyright 2006 by AP]