Tokyo, March 16 (DPA) The official toll of those dead or missing from Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster topped 10,000 Tuesday, as the country was rocked by a 6.0 magnitude aftershock.Radiation levels rose in Tokyo, and some flights were rerouted away from the capital to the south of the country to avoid the radiation cloud from the crippled Fukushima 1 nuclear plant.
The eyes of the world have been focussed on the plant, which has seen three blasts and a fire across its four reactors, sparking fears of an uncontrollable disaster and prompting governments around the world to reasses their own nuclear programmes.
The Japanese government said the fire had been extinguished and that radiation levels there had dropped slightly. But the Kyodo news agency cited plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as saying it had become impossible to refill the pool for storing spent nuclear fuel.
Four days after the initial 9.0 magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami hit north eastern Japan, a few miracle survivors were still being pulled from the rubble.
A 70-year-old woman was found lying on the first floor of her house in Otsuchi, in the prefecture of Iwate, which had been hit by the tsunami, Kyodo reported.
National broadcaster NHK also reported that a young man had been rescued from a collapsed building in Ishinomaki City, in the prefecture of Miyagi, some 330 km northeast of the capitalTokyo.
Reports say around 25,000 people have been rescued so far. However, hope was fading of finding any substantial numbers still alive. Rescuers normally give up hope of finding anyone alive 72 hours after a disaster strikes.
Meanwhile, stock markets around the world suffered another day of sharp drops, as the possible knock-on affects on the global economy became more apparent.
US stocks plummeted more than two percent within less than an hour of opening Tuesday as Japan's earthquake and threat of a nuclear meltdown threatened to push financial markets around the world into a tailspin.
The National Police Agency Tuesday put the official toll so far at 3,373 confirmed dead across 12 prefectures, while 7,558 remained missing.
Those figures alone would make it the worst natural disaster to hit Japan since the 1923 earthquake. However, the toll is expected to rise further, possibly into tens of thousands, as rescue teams get better access to areas flattened by the quake, with much road and rail infrastructure badly damaged.
Officials said hospitals were having trouble coping due to a shortage in morgue space and coffins, along with the inability to produce dry ice to store bodies amid continuing power outages.
Meanwhile a 6.0-magnitude earthquake stuck central Japan Tuesday night, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of casualties, and the agency did not issue a tsunami warning.
The epicentre of the 10:31 pm (1331 GMT) quake was in the eastern part of Shizuoka prefecture.
A total of 102 countries have now offered aid and assistance to Japan, the world's third-largest economy, as it struggles to come to terms with the disaster.
A 25-strong Russian search-and-rescue team arrived in the Fukushima prefecture, backing up a team of 54 who arrived Monday. Moscow intends sending a total of 180 rescuers.
In the US, stocks plummeted more than two percent within an hour of opening, with the threat of a nuclear meltdown on top of the earthquake damage pushing financial markets into a tailspin.
Several planned sporting events, such as the motorcycle Grand Prix next month, have been postponed.
Many foreign nationals are still unaccounted for, including 50 Peruvians.
Neighbouring China has organised the evacuation of hundreds of its citizens. The first buses would ferry people Wednesday from cities in Japan's Fukushima, Miyagi and Ibaraki prefectures to airports in Tokyo and the western city of Niigata, the Chinese embassy in Japan said on its website.
The Chinese Red Cross Society said it donated six million yuan ($900,000) in emergency aid to Japan.
China's Ministry of Environmental Protection on Tuesday ordered cities along the country's east coast to increase monitoring of radiation levels in the air and sea following reports of possible leakage from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.
German airliner Lufthansa halted flights to Tokyo over fears of an imminent meltdown of the Fukushima reactor. Instead, it will divert flights to cities further south in Japan, like Osaka and Nagoya.
Bangladesh said it was moving its embassy out of Tokyo over fears of a meltdown at the reactor. Swedish carmaker Volvo told its 9,500 employees in Japan to stay at home, whilst it halted operations at three plants.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the government was temporarily mothballing seven of Germany's oldest reactors for safety checks.
Another Fire Breaks Out at Japan's N-plant
A fire broke out again early Wednesday at the reactor 4 building of the troubled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, Xinhua reported.
The fire was discovered around 5.45 a.m. in the northeastern corner of the building, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. Firefighters were trying to put out the blaze.
Earlier Tuesday, an apparent hydrogen blast caused a fire in the building hit by last Friday's 9.0-magnitude quake.
Authorities have reported radiation levels nine times the normal in Tokyo, 270 km from Fukushima.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday that the radiation level around the Fukushima plant had "risen considerably".
The National Police Agency said the devastating quake and the ensuing tsunami have left at least 3,373 people dead and 6,746 others unaccounted for in Japan.
Reactor Shell May be Damaged, Workers Leave: Japan
Tokyo, March 16, (DPA): The inner shell of a quake- and tsunami-damaged nuclear reactor in Japan might be damaged and radiation is so high there that employees could no longer enter the complex, the government's top spokesman said Wednesday.
White smoke was seen rising Wednesday from reactor number 3 at the plant in Fukushima that is home to six reactors after a fire broke out for a second day at reactor number 4.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there was definitive information about the reactor shell on number 3. It is one of the reactor's three containment structures designed to prevent leakage of radiative materials, and Edano said radioactive steam might have leaked Wednesday.
Radioactive emissions at the plant reached record levels overnight. Measurements of 1,000 millisievert were taken and Wednesday morning, 600 to 800 millisieverts were measured, Edano said.
Being exposed to 1,000 millisieverts can cause radiation poisoning. That dose is 250 times what people usually receive in a year, but people can experience health problems at a dose of 400 millisieverts.
A spokesman at Japan's nuclear safety agency told the NHK broadcaster that workers could not longer enter reactor number 3's control room for safety reasons. At reactor number 4, a fire had broken out Tuesday, releasing significant amounts of radiation into the environment. The fire had been believed to be under control Tuesday before a blaze flared again in the same part of the plant Wednesday.
There were concerns that water levels have fallen inside a pool storing spent nuclear rods at reactor 4, leaving the fuel exposed and allowing it to overheat and melt.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it was considering spraying boracic acid by helicopter - to prevent spent nuclear fuel rods from reaching criticality again and restarting a chain reaction - at reactor 4, but Edano said the plan was considered too dangerous.
TEPCO said Wednesday that the possibility of a chain reaction restarting was "not zero". Meanwhile, about 70 percent of the nuclear fuel rods have been damaged at the troubled reactor 1 of the Fukushima 1 plant and 33 percent at reactor 2, Kyodo reported, citing TEPCO officials. The reactors' cores are believed to have partially melted.
The cooling systems at all six of the power plant's reactors have failed after Friday's magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami. Technicians have been working frantically ever since to prevent meltdowns as the reactor cores heat up and radiation levels have spiked. Explosions have occurred at some of the reactors, including reactor number 3 Monday.
Edano said there were no plans to expand the evacuation zone around the plant 250 km north of Tokyo. Authorities ordered people to leave a 20-km radius of the plant and those remaining in a 30-km radius to remain indoors with windows and doors shut.
Winds at the site Wednesday morning were in a south-easterly-easterly direction and blowing away from land and toward the Pacific.