Japan quake aftermath -- Live Report March 20

March 21 (Beijing Time)

04:15 am

The radioactive contamination of some food near Japan's stricken nuclear plant has become a concern even as authorities report progress in their battle to prevent a meltdown at the site, UN officials said on Sunday.

03:25 am

Japan hoped power restored to its stricken nuclear plant may help solve the world's worst atomic crisis in 25 years, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami that also left more than 21,000 people dead or missing.

01:30 am

Radiactivity from a nuclear accident in Japan has not contaminated food grown outside that country, the UN atomic watchdog said on Sunday.

00:43 am

The UN atomic watchdog said on Sunday there had been some positive developments at Japan's disaster-hit nuclear power plant in the last 24 hours but that the overall situation remained very serious.

March 20 (Beijing Time)

11:40 pm

At a bustling Tokyo supermarket Sunday, wary shoppers avoided one particular bin of spinach. The produce came from Ibaraki prefecture in the northeast, where radiation was found in spinach grown up to 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Another bin of spinach labeled as being from Chiba prefecture, west of Tokyo was sold out.

10:00 pm

The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear power plant said on Sunday it may take several days for power to be restored at the the No 3 and No 4 reactors.

Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of the earthquake- and tsunami-damaged plant in north east Japan, has already reconnected power to the No 1 and No 2 reactors.

9:20 pm

Japan's police agency says more than 8,400 people are dead and nearly 13,000 are listed as missing after last week's earthquake and tsunami.

A week after the disasters devastated the northeast coast, the National Police Agency said Sunday that the number of bodies collected so far stood at 8,450, while 12,931 people were listed as missing.

8:45 pm

Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it has basically completed the work of assisting Chinese citizens to leave Japanese areas hit by the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

About 7,200 Chinese nationals in the affected areas were taken to Tokyo and Niigata with the help of five working teams from the Chinese embassy in Tokyo and the general consulates in Niigata and Sapporo, the ministry said in a statement.

8:30 pm

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted near the east coast of Honshu, Japan at 12:03:48 GMT on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 53.10 km, was initially determined to be at 39.3646 degrees north latitude and 142.1050 degrees east longitude.

8:20 pm

China will not be under an immediate threat during the next three days from radioactive materials leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, according to the latest analysis released on Sunday.

China's National Nuclear Emergency Coordination Committee said in a statement that China would remain unaffected in the next three days, citing the latest weather forecast from an emergency response center in Beijing, which is affiliated with the World Meteorological Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

5:48 pm

Following are main developments after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeast Japan and crippled a nuclear power station, raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation. (From Reuters)

• Official death toll from earthquake and tsunami 8,133 with 12,272 missing. Police say more than 15,000 feared dead in Miyagi prefecture alone.

• Engineers have attached a power cable to the No 1, 2, 5 and 6 reactors, and hope to restore electricity on Sunday prior to an attempt to switch the pumps on.

• IAEA says unclear whether water pumps will work.

• Japan government spokesman says some stabilisation at the most critical No 3 reactor. Engineers meanwhile are using diesel generators for less critical reactors No 5 and No 6 reactors.

• Temperature in spent fuel pools at reactors No 5 and 6 returning to normal.

• Tests detect radiation above the national safety level in spinach and milk produced near the Fukushima plant. A sample of tap water from Tokyo shows a tiny level of radioactive.

• Japan to decide by Monday on whether to restrict consumption and shipments of food products from the area in the vicinity of the quake-hit nuclear complex.

• IAEA says Japan considering whether to halt sale of food products from Fukushima prefecture and radioactive iodine in food can pose short-term risk to human health.

• If engineers are unable to cool the reactor, the last option would be entombing the plant with concrete and sand to prevent a catastrophic radiation leak, the method used at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986. 

• Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gives some international recognition to Japan's progress during a trip to reassure residents of eastern regions that there is no immediate danger from the nuclear accident.

• Japanese PM Kan tried, and failed, to form a crisis cabinet following the earthquake and tsunami. The opposition, including the Liberal Democratic Party, told Kan it rejected his idea of increasing the number of cabinet ministers to create new posts to handle reconstruction policy.

5:30 pm

The troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will probably end its mission since a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11, according to Japan's top government spokesman Sunday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference that the Fukushima plant will not be reused given the current situation.

4:49 pm

A Chinese rescue team, which has conducted search and rescue missions in Japan, will return to China on Sunday night, said the China Earthquake Administration Sunday.

The 15-member rescue team left for Japan on March 13, with 4 tons of materials and equipment for search and rescue, power supply and telecommunication.

4:36 pm

Engineers have restored power to the crippled reactor No 2 in northeast Japan, Kyodo news agency said.

Kyodo also said that Tokyo Electric Power Company aimed to restore the control room function, lights and the cooling function at the No 1 reactor, which is connected to the No 2 reactor by cable.

4:29 pm

An 80-year-old woman and 16-year-old youth were found alive on Sunday under the rubble in the Japanese city of Ishimaki in northeast Japan, nine days after the region was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami, NHK public TV said.

NHK quoted police in Miyagi prefecture as saying the two had responded to a call from a police rescue team. They were weak but conscious.

4:12 pm

Traces of radioactive iodine had been detected in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto region, according to the results of an investigation of radioactivity in precipitation and dust conducted by the government.

Radioactive iodine was found in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Yamanashi, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures, the Kyodo News said, citing the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The ministry added that the levels detected in the investigation alone would not affect human health.

4:05 pm

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan on Sunday said the devastation in Japan is likely to have a short-term effect on Australia's exports.

While Swan said it was still too early to predict the full economic consequences, he said Australian exports could feel the impact in the coming months.

4:02 pm

Japan saw some success in its race to avert disaster at a tsunami-damaged power plant, though minor radiation leaks underlined perils from the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

3:46 pm

The National Police Agency said Sunday that the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami have left 8,133 people dead in Japan by 12:00 local time (0300 GMT). The figure is believed to be further updated.

The local police chief in Miyagi Prefecture said the death toll from the powerful earthquake and tsunami will hit 15,000 in the Prefecture alone, according to Kyodo News report.

12:45 pm

The official death toll from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami has risen to 8,133 with 12,272 still missing, Kyodo news agency said, citing the police. Police earlier said they feared more than 15,000 people had died in one prefecture alone, Miyagi, in the March 11 disaster.

12:35 pm

Japanese official says pressure rising again at stricken nuclear reactor.

11:25 am

Japan's defense ministry said Sunday that it succeeded in putting water into the No 4 reactor at the troubled Fukushima No 1 nuclear power plant. About 80 tons of water was believed to have been shot into the reactor's spent fuel pool in a 70-minute mission which ended at 9: 30 am local time (0030 GMT).

10:20 am

Japan's earthquake and tsunami has likely killed more than 15,000 people in Miyagi prefecture alone, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday, quoting local police.

09:00 am

The National Police Agency said Sunday that the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami have left 7,700 people dead and 11,651 others unaccounted for in Japan by 9:00 am.(0000 GMT).

09:00 am

Light easterly winds are forecast for the area around quake-stricken nuclear reactors on the northeast coast of Japan, the weather agency said on Sunday.

06:20 am

The New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team will end their work in quake and tsunami- hit Japan and return home on Sunday, saying there's little left that they can do. It is not because of the risk of nuclear contamination from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, the Fire Service said.

04:40 am

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed freeing up energy for Japan by increasing gas supplies to Europe and offered Japanese companies a slice of Siberia's gas industry.

03:05 am

Japan has stepped up efforts to stabilise a sticken nuclear plant but it is still too early to say whether things are going in the right direction, the UN atomic agency chief said after an emergency trip to Tokyo.

01:55 am

Engineers enjoyed some successin their mission to stop disaster at Japan's tsunami-damagedpower plant, though evidence of small radiation leaks highlighted perils from the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

01:35 am

In the first sign that contamination from Japan's stricken nuclear complex had seeped into the food chain, officials said Saturday that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near the tsunami-crippled facility exceeded government safety limits.

00:35 am

Japan is considering whether to halt sales of food products from near a crippled nuclear plant because of contamination by a radioactive element which can pose a short-term health risk, the UN atomic agency said.

00:05 am

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Japan was starting to get control of the situation at its stricken nuclear power station.