Japan in crisis

The Japanese crisis has been the result of the Tohoku earthquake which hit on March 11. The earthquake subsequently triggered a tsunami that hit mere minutes after.

The string of natural disasters has resulted in nearly 10,000 confirmed deaths with almost 15,000 missing and injured. The nearby Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant sustained a large degree of structural damage as a result of the disasters.

Four out of six nuclear reactors have been seriously damaged with fears growing of a full-scale meltdown scenario.

Civilians have been evacuated up to a 20 km radius while food products have been banned within a 100 km radius for fear of contamination. Irradiated water samples were found in Tokyo 210 km away.

Nuclear incidents are characterized along a seven point system known as the
International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). The following is a visual interpretation of the INES.