Japan jolted on tsunami anniversary
A strong new earthquake rattled Japan's northeast on April 11, 2011, as the government urged more people living near a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant to leave, citing concerns about long-term health risks from radiation.
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The magnitude 7.0 aftershock, which trapped some people in collapsed homes, came just hours after residents bowed their heads and wept in ceremonies to mark a month since a massive earthquake and tsunami killed up to 25,000 people and set off radiation leaks at the nuclear plant by knocking out its cooling systems. The US Geological Survey, however, said it measured 6.6.
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Officials said the aftershock on April 11 aftershock did not endanger operations at the tsunami-flooded Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where power was cut but quickly restored. The epicenter was just inland and about 100 miles (160 kilometres) north of Tokyo.
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With the crisis dragging on, residents of five more communities, some of them more than 20 miles (30 kilometres) from the plant, were urged to evacuate within a month because of high levels of radiation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters. People living in a 12-mile (20-kilometre) radius around the plant already have been evacuated.
