Sendai, Japan (CNN) -- As Japan buckles from a powerful earthquake and a devastating tsunami, residents on Sunday hoped they are spared an even more catastrophic fate: a widespread release of radiation from damaged nuclear plants.
By Sunday afternoon, the death toll from the country's strongest-ever earthquake in more than a century and the crushing walls of water that followed had risen to 801.
An additional 678 were missing, the National Police Agency said. Officials fear the numbers may climb once rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
The nuclear plants sparked fresh concerns for survivors of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that tore through Japan on Friday, triggering massive waves that ravaged everything on their path.
Residents watched as water rushed in
Search for survivors in Sendai
Sendai helicopter rescue
Families searching for loved ones
"I've not slept since Friday because of aftershocks," said Indri Rosid, who lives in Tokyo.
"Now I have nuclear plants to worry about. We have an idea of what to do when an earthquake hits, but what should I do in a radiation leak?"
Rosid said she has an earthquake emergency kit that includes a flashlight, documents and canned food.
"But I have none for a radiation leak because no one teaches you what to do in that case," she said.
While rescuers scoured the devastated coastline for survivors, authorities faced the possibility of a third crisis.
Officials do not know for certain whether there have been meltdowns at two reactors in a nuclear facility in the northeast, said Yukio Edano, the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
They are working under the presumption that such meltdowns have taken place as they attempt to cool down radioactive material and release pressure inside the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, he said.
A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release.
So far, there have been no indications of dangerously high radiation levels in the atmosphere, Edano said.
Japan resident describes nuke evacuation
83 aftershocks in 21 hours in Japan
Gallery: Massive quake hits Japan
Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan
The government evacuated more than 200,000 residents from homes close to the plant, and tested 160 people for radiation exposure on Sunday, authorities said. It also was preparing to distribute iodine tablets to residents, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said.
"We have the cars filled up and ready for an emergency drive back home to Kyushu in case things get ugly," said Fulco Vrooland, referring to the most southwesterly of Japan's islands.
Attempts to avert a possible nuclear crisis came after Edano said there is a "possibility" of a meltdown at Fukushima's No. 1 reactor.
"It is inside the reactor. We can't see," he said.
He then said authorities are also "assuming the possibility of a meltdown" at the facility's No. 3 reactor.
Edano said only a "minor level" of radiation that is not harmful to human health has been released into the environment -- saying it all came from a controlled release of radioactive steam.
Meanwhile, in neighborhoods swallowed by tsunami-triggered walls of water, rescuers and shell-shocked residents scrambled to reach survivors.
In the city of Ishinomaki, the military was going door-to-door, hoping to find survivors. Instead, they mostly found bodies of elderly people.
Scenes from the quake
Japan's streets unrecognizable after quake
Train cars thrown, crushed in tsunami
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* Japan
* Tokyo
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In one coastal town alone -- Minamisanriku, in Myagi Prefecture -- some 9,500 people, half the town's population, were unaccounted for.
The city of Sendai lay in ruins with rescuers trudging through water-logged, debris-filled streets. Around them, cars were stacked on top of each other; and a carpet of sludge covered the remains of what used to be homes.
Sendai lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of the earthquake epicenter
About 2.5 million households -- just over 4% of the total in Japan -- were without electricity Sunday, said Ichiro Fujisaki, the nation's U.S. ambassador. Lights were turned off in most landmarks to save energy, including the Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo.
Scores lined up at the few gas stations, drug stores and supermarkets that were open. Shelves were largely empty as stores rushed to restock.
'We've been provided some water rations ... and we're still not sure when we are to get more," said Matthew Williams, who lives in Shin-Urayasu near Tokyo. "The city has told us we are able to take a bucket to the local elementary school to obtain some water, but the wait is about three hours."
Residents also braved an seemingly endless barrage of aftershocks.
"The aftershocks still keep coming every 10 minutes and my house sways every time," said Tokyo resident Shintaro Higuchi on Sunday, two days after the 8.9-magnitude struck 373 kilometers (231) miles away.
Japanese officials raised the quake's magnitude to 9.0 on Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported scores of such quakes. More than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand last month, the agency said.
And the death toll is expected to surge. The number of dead in Miyagi prefecture alone "will undoubtedly be in the tens thousands," Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the prefecture's police chief.
Japan plans to dispatch 100,000 members of its defense forces to the quake-ravaged region -- double the previous number -- Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Sunday, according to Kyodo.
At least 48 other countries and the European Union also have offered relief. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived off Japan's coast Sunday morning to support Japanese forces in disaster relief operations, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement.
Friday's quake is the strongest earthquake in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geologic Survey records that date to 1900. The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the agency
source"-http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/japan.quake/
By Sunday afternoon, the death toll from the country's strongest-ever earthquake in more than a century and the crushing walls of water that followed had risen to 801.
An additional 678 were missing, the National Police Agency said. Officials fear the numbers may climb once rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
The nuclear plants sparked fresh concerns for survivors of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that tore through Japan on Friday, triggering massive waves that ravaged everything on their path.
Residents watched as water rushed in
Search for survivors in Sendai
Sendai helicopter rescue
Families searching for loved ones
"I've not slept since Friday because of aftershocks," said Indri Rosid, who lives in Tokyo.
"Now I have nuclear plants to worry about. We have an idea of what to do when an earthquake hits, but what should I do in a radiation leak?"
Rosid said she has an earthquake emergency kit that includes a flashlight, documents and canned food.
"But I have none for a radiation leak because no one teaches you what to do in that case," she said.
While rescuers scoured the devastated coastline for survivors, authorities faced the possibility of a third crisis.
Officials do not know for certain whether there have been meltdowns at two reactors in a nuclear facility in the northeast, said Yukio Edano, the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
They are working under the presumption that such meltdowns have taken place as they attempt to cool down radioactive material and release pressure inside the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, he said.
A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release.
So far, there have been no indications of dangerously high radiation levels in the atmosphere, Edano said.
Japan resident describes nuke evacuation
83 aftershocks in 21 hours in Japan
Gallery: Massive quake hits Japan
Map: 8.9 earthquake hits Japan
The government evacuated more than 200,000 residents from homes close to the plant, and tested 160 people for radiation exposure on Sunday, authorities said. It also was preparing to distribute iodine tablets to residents, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said.
"We have the cars filled up and ready for an emergency drive back home to Kyushu in case things get ugly," said Fulco Vrooland, referring to the most southwesterly of Japan's islands.
Attempts to avert a possible nuclear crisis came after Edano said there is a "possibility" of a meltdown at Fukushima's No. 1 reactor.
"It is inside the reactor. We can't see," he said.
He then said authorities are also "assuming the possibility of a meltdown" at the facility's No. 3 reactor.
Edano said only a "minor level" of radiation that is not harmful to human health has been released into the environment -- saying it all came from a controlled release of radioactive steam.
Meanwhile, in neighborhoods swallowed by tsunami-triggered walls of water, rescuers and shell-shocked residents scrambled to reach survivors.
In the city of Ishinomaki, the military was going door-to-door, hoping to find survivors. Instead, they mostly found bodies of elderly people.
Scenes from the quake
Japan's streets unrecognizable after quake
Train cars thrown, crushed in tsunami
RELATED TOPICS
* Japan
* Tokyo
* Tsunamis
* Earthquakes
In one coastal town alone -- Minamisanriku, in Myagi Prefecture -- some 9,500 people, half the town's population, were unaccounted for.
The city of Sendai lay in ruins with rescuers trudging through water-logged, debris-filled streets. Around them, cars were stacked on top of each other; and a carpet of sludge covered the remains of what used to be homes.
Sendai lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of the earthquake epicenter
About 2.5 million households -- just over 4% of the total in Japan -- were without electricity Sunday, said Ichiro Fujisaki, the nation's U.S. ambassador. Lights were turned off in most landmarks to save energy, including the Tokyo Tower and Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo.
Scores lined up at the few gas stations, drug stores and supermarkets that were open. Shelves were largely empty as stores rushed to restock.
'We've been provided some water rations ... and we're still not sure when we are to get more," said Matthew Williams, who lives in Shin-Urayasu near Tokyo. "The city has told us we are able to take a bucket to the local elementary school to obtain some water, but the wait is about three hours."
Residents also braved an seemingly endless barrage of aftershocks.
"The aftershocks still keep coming every 10 minutes and my house sways every time," said Tokyo resident Shintaro Higuchi on Sunday, two days after the 8.9-magnitude struck 373 kilometers (231) miles away.
Japanese officials raised the quake's magnitude to 9.0 on Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported scores of such quakes. More than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand last month, the agency said.
And the death toll is expected to surge. The number of dead in Miyagi prefecture alone "will undoubtedly be in the tens thousands," Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the prefecture's police chief.
Japan plans to dispatch 100,000 members of its defense forces to the quake-ravaged region -- double the previous number -- Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Sunday, according to Kyodo.
At least 48 other countries and the European Union also have offered relief. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived off Japan's coast Sunday morning to support Japanese forces in disaster relief operations, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement.
Friday's quake is the strongest earthquake in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geologic Survey records that date to 1900. The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the agency
source"-http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/13/japan.quake/
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