Tokyo, March 11 (Reuters): Auto plants, electronics factories and refineries shut across large parts of Japan today after a powerful earthquake rocked the country, triggering a tsunami, buckling roads and knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses.

Leaders of the ruling and Opposition parties pushed for an emergency budget to help fund relief efforts after Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked them to “save the country”, reports Kyodo news agency.

The Bank of Japan, which has been struggling to boost the anaemic economy, said it would do its utmost to ensure financial market stability as air force jets roared towards the northeast coast to assess the damage from the biggest quake to hit the country in 140 years.

The 8.9 magnitude quake sent shares skidding in Japan and elsewhere, adding to a slide in global stocks to their lowest level in nearly six weeks. Several airports, including Tokyo’s Narita, were closed and rail services halted. All the country’s ports were closed.

Electronics giant Sony Corp , one of the country’s biggest exporters, shut six factories, Kyodo news agency reported.

“There are car and semiconductor factories in northern Japan, so there will be some economic impact due to damage to factories,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo.       

At least 1,000 people were killed, Kyodo said, and many were injured in the quake, with fires breaking out from Sendai city in northern Japan to Tokyo. A tsunami 30 feet high hit Sendai port in Miyagi Prefecture, about 300km northeast of Tokyo, but there were no immediate reports of damage. Miyagi and its surrounding areas include major manufacturing and industrial zones, with many chemical and electronics plants. But early reports from the area were sketchy and it was not clear if some plants were shut simply due to a lack of power or because of quake damage.

Miyagi, the area most affected by the quake, accounts for 1.7 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP), Macquarie Research said.

“There are two basic economics-related concerns. The first is that the fragile economic cycle is not in a position to withstand significant disruption,” Macquarie said in a note.       

“The second is that the combination of a softer economy and the additional strain on public finances will put upward pressure on bond yields.”       

Toyota Motor Corp said it had halted production at a parts factory and two assembly plants in the area, while Nissan Motor Co , the country’s second-largest automaker, stopped operations at four factories, media report said.

Two persons were reported killed by a collapsing ceiling at a Honda Motor Co factory in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, but no other details were immediately available.       

The quake occurred as the world’s third-largest economy was showing signs of revival after shrinking in the final quarter of last year. The disaster raised the prospect of major disruptions for many key businesses, at least in the short term.

The yen fell as much as 0.3 per cent against the dollar before recouping its losses, while Nikkei stock futures plunged nearly 5 per cent at one point.       

The disaster also weighed on markets elsewhere, pushing shares in European insurance companies down.