March 13, 2011
6:18 p.m.
With a death toll expected to climb into the tens of thousands, more than a half-million people displaced and a nuclear crisis continuing to unfold, rescuers converged Monday on Japan's devastated earthquake zone.
The government reported Monday that radiation levels again rose above legal limits outside the crippled nuclear complex at quake-battered Fukushima, about 150 miles north of Tokyo, where authorities have been pumping seawater into overheated reactors to try to cool them down. Several other nuclear installations were under close watch for potential problems.
Across a wide swath of earthquake-hit territory, hundreds of thousands of hungry survivors roused themselves from a third cold night spent huddled in darkened emergency centers, cut off from rescuers, aid and electricity. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 1.9 million households were without power.
In Tokyo, many of the train lines that normally run between the city and outlying suburbs were either running far less frequently than normal or not running at all. Subway and train lines crisscrossing the capital were also curtailed. Japan's main stock exchange, the Nikkei, opened down Monday morning by just over 2%.
An international rescue effort gathered force, with teams arriving from China, New Zealand, Germany and the United States, among other nations. A Los Angeles County Fire Department search-and-rescue team arrived at Misawa Air Base about 400 miles north of Tokyo about 3 p.m. Sunday with 74 tons of equipment, including swift-water rescue gear and six search dogs.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 70% probability of a magnitude 7 quake in the next three days
