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Monday, March 14, 2011

MACTV News: SNAPSHOT-Developments after major Japan earthquake, Posted by Menelik Zeleke


March 14, 2011 1:45:43 PM


TOKYO, March 14 (Reuters) - Following are main developments after a massive earthquake struck northeast Japan on Friday and set off a tsunami.

- Death toll expected to exceed 10,000 from the quake and tsunami, public broadcaster NHK says. About 2,000 bodies found on two shores of Miyagi prefecture, Kyodo news agency reports.

- Japan battles to prevent nuclear catastrophe. A hydrogen explosion jolts the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) says 11 people were injured.

- Before the blast, officials said 22 people had suffered radiation contamination. Up to 190 may have been exposed.

- Operator TEPCO begins reinjecting water into No. 2 reactor in the hope of cooling it, and says water levels have risen and half the fuel rods are exposed.

- Nuclear safety agency rates the incident a 4 on the 1 to 7 International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, less serious than Three Mile Island, a 5, and Chernobyl at 7.

- Switzerland's energy minister says suspends approvals process for three nuclear power stations so safety standards can be revisited.

* Germany's ruling coalition is discussing suspending for three months its decision last year to extend the life of Germany's nuclear power plants, a coalition source says.

- Authorities have set up a 20-km (12-mile) exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi plant and a 10-km (6 mile) zone around Fukushima Daini.

- Strong aftershocks persist in the stricken area.
- About 450,000 people evacuated nationwide in addition to 80,000 from the exclusion zone around the nuclear power plants. Almost 2 million households are without power in the freezing north and about 1.4 million households have no running water.

- Reactor operator says rolling blackout to affect 3 million customers, including large factories, buildings and households. Blackouts affected 113,000 households on Monday, it says.

- Japan's Nikkei share index falls more than 6 percent, dragging European stocks to their lowest in three months.

- The Bank of Japan (BoJ) offers to pump a record $85 billion into the banking system.
- Credit Suisse estimates the loss at between 14 trillion yen ($171 billion) and 15 trillion yen just to the quake region.
(Tokyo bureau; World Desk Asia, Singapore +65 6870 3815)

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