As affair about the crippling bread-and-butter appulse of the nuclear and convulsion disasters mounted, Japanese stocks plunged added than 14 percent - branch for their better bead aback 1987 -- compounding a accelerate of 7.6 percent the day before. The two-day abatement has wiped $720 billion off the market.
In a assurance of ascent fears about the blow of radiation, adjoining China said it was deepening ecology and Air China said it had canceled flights to Tokyo.
But abounding Japanese were cancelling trips and blockage put, adage now is not the time to leave home.
"There has been a blaze at the No. 4 reactor and radiation levels in the surrounding breadth accept astute significantly. The achievability of added radioactive arising is heightening," a grim-faced Kan said in an abode to the nation.
"We are authoritative every accomplishment to anticipate the aperture from spreading. I apperceive that humans are actual afraid but I would like to ask you to act calmly."
As apropos rose over the nuclear accident, Japanese media became added analytical of Kan's administration of the adversity and criticized the government and bulb abettor TEPCO for their abortion to accommodate abundant advice on the incident.
The French Embassy in Tokyo warned in an 0100 GMT advising that a low akin of radioactive wind could ability the basic -- 240 km (150 miles) south of the bulb -- in about 10 hours.
Winds over the ability were alarming boring in a southwesterly administration that includes Tokyo but will about-face westerly afterwards on Tuesday, a acclimate official said.
Kyodo account bureau said radiation levels nine times accustomed levels had been briefly detected in Kanagawa abreast Tokyo, but it quotes the city government that alone "minute levels" were begin in the basic itself.
"Very astute radiation, like that which happened in Chernobyl and to the Japanese workers at the nuclear ability station, is absurd for the population," said Lam Ching-wan, a actinic pathologist at the University of Hong Kong.
But the blasts could betrayal the citizenry to longer-term acknowledgment to radiation, which can accession the blow of thyroid and cartilage cancers and leukemia. Children in fetuses are abnormally vulnerable.
There accept been a absolute of four explosions at the bulb aback it was damaged in endure Friday's massive convulse and tsunami. The a lot of contempo were blasts at reactors No. 2 and No. 4.
Authorities had ahead been aggravating to anticipate meltdowns in the Fukishima Daiichi complex's nuclear reactors by calamity the accommodation with sea baptize to air-conditioned the reactors down.
There has been agitation affairs in Tokyo. Don Quixote, a multi-storey, 24-hour accustomed abundance in Roppongi district, awash out of radios anon afterwards the quake. It aswell awash out of flashlights, candles, petrol containers and sleeping bags.
The abounding admeasurement of the abolition from endure Friday's massive convulse and tsunami that followed it was still acceptable clear, as rescuers combed through the arena arctic of Tokyo area admiral say at diminutive 10,000 humans were killed.
"It's a arena from hell, actually nightmarish," said Patrick Fuller of the All-embracing Red Cross Federation from the northeastern littoral boondocks of Otsuchi.
Kan has said Japan is adverse its affliction crisis aback World War Two and, with the banking costs estimated at up to $180 billion, analysts said it could tip the world's third-biggest abridgement aback into recession.
The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the convulse to consequence 9.0, from 8.9, authoritative it the world's fourth a lot of able aback 1900.
Car makers, shipbuilders and technology companies common accolade for aliment afterwards the adversity shut factories in Japan and disrupted the all-around accomplishment chain.
BLAST DAMAGES ROOF, WORKERS TOLD TO LEAVE
The abhorrence at the Fukushima bulb is of a aloft radiation aperture afterwards the convulse and tsunami agape out cooling systems.
Jiji account bureau said the aboriginal access on Tuesday damaged the roof and beef was ascent from the complex. Some workers were aswell told to leave the plant, a development one able had warned advanced could arresting a deepening of the crisis.
The blow and the acknowledgment accept prompted criticism that authorities were ill-prepared and active agitation in abounding countries about the assurance of diminutive power.
"You're aloft Three Mile Island but you're boilerplate abreast a Chernobyl ... Chernobyl there was no impediment to release, it just blew aggregate out into the atmosphere," said Murray Jennex, assistant at San Diego State University in California.
"You've still got a big block of the ascendancy there captivation a lot of of it in."
Switzerland put on authority some approvals for nuclear ability plants and Germany said it was auctioning a plan to extend the activity of its nuclear ability stations. The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama remained committed to nuclear energy.
Whilst the Fukuskima plant's No.1 and No.3 reactors both suffered fractional ammunition rod meltdowns, abettor Tokyo Electric Ability Co (TEPCO) had beforehand said the No.2 reactor was now the better concern.
A abrupt bead in cooling baptize levels if a pump ran out of ammunition had absolutely apparent the ammunition rods for a time, an official said. This could advance to the rods melting down and a radioactive leak.
TEPCO had resumed pumping sea baptize into the reactor aboriginal on Tuesday.
U.S. argosy and planes allowance with abatement efforts confused abroad from the bank briefly because of low-level radiation. The U.S. Seventh Fleet declared the move as precautionary.
South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines said they would analysis Japanese aliment imports for radiation.
TOWNS FLATTENED
About 850,000 households in the arctic were still afterwards electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Ability Co. said, and the government said at diminutive 1.5 actor households abridgement active water. Tens of bags of humans were missing.
"The bearings actuality is just aloft belief, about aggregate has been flattened," said the Red Cross's Fuller in Otsuchi, a boondocks all-but obliterated. "The government is adage that 9,500 people, added than bisected of the population, could accept died and I do abhorrence the worst."
Whole villages and towns accept been wiped off the map by Friday's bank of water, triggering an all-embracing altruistic accomplishment of ballsy proportions.
Estimates of the bread-and-butter appulse are now starting to emerge.
Hiromichi Shirakawa, arch economist for Japan at Credit Suisse, said in a agenda to audience that the bread-and-butter accident will acceptable be about 14-15 abundance yen ($171-183 billion) just to the arena hit by the convulse and tsunami.
Even that would put it aloft the frequently accustomed amount of the 1995 Kobe convulse which dead 6,000 people.
The convulsion has affected abounding firms to append assembly and all-around companies -- from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders -- face disruptions to operations afterwards the convulse and tsunami destroyed basic infrastructure, damaged ports and agape out factories.
"The convulsion could accept abundant implications on the all-around bread-and-butter front," said Andre Bakhos, administrator of bazaar analytics at Lec Securities in New York. "If you shut down Japan, there could be a all-around recession."
