Tsunami debris floating in the Ocean

Wow with this and the plastic bag island floating around no wonder they are worried about the shipping lanes, The size is staggering

TOKYO - Floating islands almost 70 miles long of bodies and debris after the Japanese tsunami are causing chaos in Pacific shipping lanes.

Cars, tractors, boats and entire houses have been seen floating towards Canada and the U.S. after the March 11 earthquake.

The largest "island" of debris is 69 miles long and covers more than 2.2-million sq ft, according to the US Navy's 7th Fleet, which is monitoring the floating rubbish.

"It is very large and it's a maritime hazard," said Lieutenant Anthony Falvo, the deputy public affairs officer for the US Navy's 7th Fleet. "It can do anything from piercing the hull of a ship to leaving dents or getting wrapped up in propulsion systems."

Experts say it could take up to two years for the debris to reach Hawaii and another year to hit North America's west coast.

The US Navy is working with Japanese building companies to start breaking up the islands.

As Japan struggles to recover from the tsunami, a 7.4 magnitude aftershock hit the same north-east region.

Four people were killed and a further 100 were injured after the tremor shook the Miyagi prefecture late on Thursday night.

The quake caused widespread blackouts, motorway closures and swaying buildings as far away as Tokyo. A tsunami warning was later lifted.

Damage was reported at the Onagawa nuclear power plant but radiation levels remained steady. The strong tremor also briefly halted work to restore control at the still stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant but caused no further damage.

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