Japan to deploy 100,000 troops on quake aid

TOKYO: Japan will double to 100,000 the number of troops on rescue and relief missions after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast coast, the government said Sunday.

Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told a meeting of his ministry's emergency headquarters that he had received the order from Prime Minister Naoto Kan, a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Police said Sunday the death toll from the disaster was nearing 900. Along the hard-hit east coast of Honshu island, where the monster waves struck, more than 12,250 homes and other buildings were destroyed or damaged.