Japan: Powerful earthquake hits north-east
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A powerful earthquake has hit north-east Japan, exactly one month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The 7.1-magnitude tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning, and forced workers to evacuate the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
The epicentre of the quake was in Fukushima prefecture, and struck at a depth of just 10km (six miles).
It came as Japan said it was extending the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant because of radiation concerns.
The cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were damaged in last month's disaster. Workers have been struggling to prevent several reactors from overheating, and avert a large-scale release of radiation.
The plant's operator, Tepco, said power used to pump water to cool three damaged reactors had been cut briefly but early indications suggested the plant had not sustained any further damage.
The zone around it will be widened to encompass five communities beyond the existing 20-km (12-mile) radius, following new data about accumulated radiation levels, officials said.
Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said the new evacuations would take place over the coming month, from areas including Iitate village, which lies 40km from the power station, and part of the city of Kawamata.
"This is not an emergency measure that people have to evacuate immediately," he told a news conference, but added that there were concerns about long-term health risks.
'Standing together'
The latest tremor struck shortly after the country stopped to observe a minute's silence to remember the nearly 28,000 dead or missing in the 11 March disaster.
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Survivors in shelters marked the moment the quake and tsunami hit at 1446 (0546 GMT) with bowed heads.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked people around the world for their support.
In an open letter carried in seven newspapers around the world, he said that the support had brought hope and inspired courage at a desperate time.
"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."
The official death toll from the disaster is 13,130, while 13,718 remain unaccounted for.
More than 150,000 people have been made homeless. Many have lost their jobs.
The prime minister has tried to reassure survivors that the fishing industry - which many in the area rely on for their livelihoods - would resume as soon as possible.
Continue reading the main story In the exclusion zone We need funds and I think an environment that has a radiation risk simply isn't right - especially for my new baby. I have to make a very hard decision. I want to live peacefully in my hometown. It pains me that I can't. I have no choice but to carry on with my life, and I will work away from home temporarily. I haven't decided what I will do long-term yet. What I know for sure is that I have to give up my dream of being a children's football coach. Sadly my life has changed completely as a result of this disaster.
The tsunami wrecked boats and piers, closing down big fishing operations.
But the damage to the nuclear plant has also hit the fishing industry, as public and international buyers ditch Japanese food products over fears of contamination.
During a visit to Fukushima on Monday, Tepco chief Masataka Shimizu apologised for the nuclear accident.
The people who live near the plant are "suffering physically and mentally due to the nuclear radiation leak accident," he said.
"We sincerely apologise for this," he said.
The local community has been so angered by Tepco's handling of the incident that Fukushima's mayor refused to meet Mr Shimizu.
Workers have been feeding water into three reactors at the plant to cool fuel rods.
They are continuing to inject nitrogen into the No 1 reactor to prevent another blast caused by a build-up of hydrogen gas.
They have also been releasing water with low levels of radioactivity into the sea so that they can transfer highly radioactive water to a sealed area on site.
Officials have warned it will be several months before the situation at the nuclear facility is brought fully under control.
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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."



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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