Japan misfortune (Updated Story)

An earthquake of magnitude 6 rocked Tokyo as radioactive emissions from Fakushima reactor increase. Fear gripped Japan when another earthquake shocked Tokyo city, on Wednesday. The people came out of the buildings which continued to shake violently. The government officials said that a tsunami threat has been quelled, but changes in sea level near the coastal areas are expected. On the other hand, a fire erupted in the Fakushima reactor which resulted in an increase in the leak of radioactive emissions. The government has given up on the efforts to cool down the nuclear reactors and has ordered the workers to evacuate the area. The Japanese government has asked the United States for assistance in the nuclear crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people living near Japan's crippled nuclear plant have been "pushed to the limit", the regional governor said on Wednesday night. Six days into the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, Yuhei Sato, the head of the province, said the ongoing fear and anxiety had left survivors of the earthquake at the limit of their endurance. More than 200,000 people living close to the nuclear complex have been forced to flee their homes, while another 140,000 living inside an 19-mile isolation zone have been told to stay indoors. Makeshift evacuation camps have been set up to care for those made homeless, but worsening weather conditions, including freezing temperatures and heavy snow, have heightened fears that many of those who survived the initial earthquake and tsunami, could perish in the aftermath. Mr Sato, the regional governor of Fukushima province, said there was a great deal of frustration and anger at the lack of clear information and advice about emergency. "The worry and anger of the people of Fukushima has been pushed to the limit," he said. "The anxiety and anger being felt by people in Fukushima have reached a boiling point." He criticized the evacuation process and said those ordered to stay indoors were running out of food and other vital supplies. With the infrastructure in the affected region in tatters, relief workers have been struggling to get aid to the suffering. Supplies of water and heating oil have been running perilously low at many of the evacuation centres and transport has been unable to reach some areas to move people to safety. Takanori Watanabe, a Red Cross doctor in Otsuchi, a town where more than half the 17,000 residents were still missing, said: "It's cold today so many people have fallen ill, getting diarrhea and other symptoms." It remained unclear how long the exclusion zone around the power station would be in place, but food, water and blankets were only expected to last for a few more days.