Japanese nuclear regulatory officials Tuesday raised the severity rating at the earthquake - and tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant to the highest level by international standards, equaling the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown in the former Soviet Union.The country's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announced that because of the amount of radioactive material released from the plant after the magnitude 9 earthquake a month ago, the rating would be changed to level 7, a "major accident " on the International Atomic Energy Agency 's scale, up from a level 5, an "accident with wider consequences."In a nationally televised news conference, the agency's spokesman, Hidehiko Nishiyama, said the decision was based on the amount of radioactive iodine and cesium spewed from the power plant in Fukushima , north of Tokyo Nishiyama stressed that the radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant was 10% of the amount at Chernobyl. He also said that unlike at Chernobyl, there had been no deaths linked to the accident at Fukushima."At Chernobyl, the reactor itself exploded," he said. "At Fukushima some radioactivity has leaked from the reactor, but the reactor itself continues to keep most of the radioactive material inside. In that sense, this is different from Chernobyl."Before the rating was elevated, the disaster had been rated at the same level as the 1979 Three Mile Island accident near Middletown , Pa.But Minoru Ogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the change in the severity rating came because "the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," the Associated Press reported.Measuring severity on the international scale involves factors including the amount of radiation released, how wide an area it reaches and how long any problems may last.Officials said the rating reflects the severity of the problem at the outset, when radiation levels were highest. Those levels have since fallen sharply, they said.Experts, nevertheless, say it will take years to recover from the damage incurred at the Fukushima plant.More than 27,000 people were left dead or missing as the disaster last month, centered in the northeast, destroyed fishing towns and caused severe damage to homes, businesses and almost everything else along more than 200 miles of coastline. The government has estimated economic losses of as much as $300 billion, not including costs such as the cleanup of the Fukushima plant, which is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.The announcement by nuclear agency officials came the day after three powerful aftershocks struck already jittery northeastern Japan within the span of 10 minutes, as the government announced new plans to expand the evacuation area near the stricken nuclear plant due to high radiation levels.Japan is trying to rebuild after the March 11 quake triggered a deadly tsunami that also left tens of thousands homeless. The tsunami has caused several fires and explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which has leaked dangerous isotopes into the air, soil and water.The first of Monday's temblors, which trapped some victims in collapsed homes and vehicles, hit at 5:16 p.m. near the coast in Fukushima prefecture, registering a magnitude 7.1 at a depth of 6 miles underground, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.It was sizable enough to rock buildings in Tokyo, about 150 miles to the south. A magnitude 6 quake hit a minute later in the same area, followed by another temblor, measuring magnitude 5.6, nine minutes after that.Aftershocks continued hours later, the agency said. In neighboring Ibaraki prefecture, one man died after falling and hitting his head during the shaking, according to the local Ryugasaki fire department.The quakes also triggered a landslide that buried three homes in Iwaki city. Two people died in the landslide, including a 16-year-old girl, according to public broadcaster NHK. Three other men pulled from the rubble were unconscious and taken to a hospital, NHK said. Rescuers continued their efforts Tuesday.Officials issued a tsunami warning after the quakes but later lifted it.The quakes temporarily knocked out the power to the Fukushima plant and led to a 50-minute stoppage in the water-spraying operations to cool four of the plant's six reactors. Highways were closed, bullet train services to the region were halted briefly, and as many 220,000 homes in Fukushima prefecture were without power.Tokyo Electric Power Co. said a fire broke out on the plant's premises Tuesday morning at a building where batteries are stored. Within minutes, firefighters put out the blaze, and there appeared to be no impact on workers' efforts to cool four of the reactors, the company said in a statement.On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government would expand a 12-mile evacuation area near the nuclear plant, adding to the ranks of the thousands who have already been told to leave their homes.Unlike the government's previous evacuation orders, the new one is based on data that show higher than normal radiation levels extending to towns and villages that lie beyond the 12- to 18-mile zone around the plant. The government has advised residents in the zone to stay indoors.It was unclear how many residents would be affected by the new order, which the government plans to carry out over the next month. Edano noted that the risk of a massive radiation leak from the Fukushima plant was "considerably lower."
A new magnitude 6.6 aftershock yesterday triggered a mudslide which left six people dead. 
The crisis at a  on the northeast coast of Japan is now as severe as the  in 1986, officials have said. Radiation is continuing to leak from the plant, which was damaged during the devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami last month, which left thousands dead. Japanese authorities have warned the crisis is now a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than previously thought.

A spokesperson for , the Japanese government nuclear authority, said officials had upgraded the crisis to a level seven on the —the same applied to the Chernobyl disaster—because of a number of factors, including the detection of radiation in crops. "We have upgraded the severity level to seven as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," he said.

 
, the operator of the plant, has warned radiation was continuing to leak from the site and the magnitude of the crisis could exceed that of Chernobyl. Despite this, Japanese nuclear safety officials have insisted the leakage of radiation was small compared to the devastated plant in the former . "In terms of volume of radioactive materials released, our estimate shows it is about ten percent of what was released by Chernobyl," one nuclear official said.

The news comes as a new blow after another powerful aftershock yesterday which left at least six people dead after they were killed in a  in the city of . The landslide, which destroyed numerous homes, was triggered by a  6.6 aftershock which came exactly a month after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Fire officials in the city said three people had already been rescued and taken to hospital, and emergency workers were working to free an unknown number of others.
The International Nuclear Events Scale; the accidents at the Fukushima I have been elevated to level seven, the highest level on the scale, putting it on par with the , originally the accidents were rated at level five, the same level of the . 
Workers at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant returned after they were briefly evacuated following the earthquake, and officials issued tsunami warnings for the northeast coast which were later cancelled. Workers have been fighting a desperate battle to prevent the reactors from overheating and entering . Raging fires burned into the night after the earthquake, and TEPCO reported widespread power outages; hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses had power cut off.

Reports of the change in severity at the damaged nuclear plant followed the announcement that the  around the site was to be expanded. A spokesperson for the government confirmed the radius of the zone would be expanded to include another five communities over the next several weeks. He stressed there was "no need to evacuate immediately" but said concerns had been raised over health risks from the leaking radiation.

The new development at the plant and the aftershock are new blows to a country wounded after the massive earthquake in March, which caused a tsunami that washed away whole towns and villages along the country's northeast coast. Thousands of bodies have been recovered, and many more are still unaccounted for, many left under mounds of rubble or washed out to sea. More than 150,000 people remain displaced, living in emergency shelters.


Before the aftershock struck yesterday, survivors of the first earthquake marked the time it hit a month ago with a  across the country. Writing to seven international newspapers, , the ,  expressed his gratitude to people globally for their support. "Through our own efforts and with the help of the global community, Japan will recover and come back even stronger. We will then repay you for your generous aid," he wrote. "With this in our hearts, we now stand together dedicated to rebuilding the nation."



== Sources == 
*
*
* (PUBLIC DOMAIN)
*
*
*





















de:Nachbeben in Japan – Behörden weiten Sicherheitszone aus
es:Aumentan el nivel de alerta radioactiva en la central nuclear Fukushima
fr:Les accidents de Fukushima évalués de niveau 7 par les autorités japonaises
pl:Fukushima: łączna ocena INES awarii podniesiona do 7. stopnia