Japan struggles with dual disasters

By Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan battled twin disasters on Sunday, trying to contain a radiation leak at a crippled nuclear plant while rescue teams searched desperately for survivors from a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Thousands huddled over heaters in emergency shelters through another freezing night along the northeastern coast, a scene of devastation after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake sent a 10-meter (33-foot) tsunami surging through towns and cities.
Kyodo news agency said the number of dead or unaccounted for as a result of the quake and tsunami was expected to exceed 1,800. It also reported there had been no contact with around 10,000 people in one small town, more than half its population.
An explosion severely damaged the main building of the nuclear plant on Saturday in the wake of the earthquake, and authorities said radiation had leaked from the facility, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
The government insisted radiation levels were low, saying the blast had not affected the reactor core container, and the International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been told by Japan that levels "have been observed to lessen in recent hours."
Still, 140,000 people had been evacuated from areas near the plant and another nuclear facility nearby while authorities prepared to distribute iodine to people in the vicinity to protect them from radioactive exposure.
Workers pumped seawater into the reactor to cool it.
"There is radiation leaking out, and since the possibility (of being exposed) is high, it's quite scary," said Masanori Ono, 17, standing in line on Saturday to be scanned for radiation at an evacuation center in Fukushima prefecture.
And a new threat emerged, as Japan's nuclear power safety agency said another reactor at the stricken plant had lost its cooling system and urgently needed water. The number of people exposed to radiation from the plant could reach 160, it said.
The agency had earlier said the nuclear accident was less serious than both the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
An official at the agency said it has rated the incident at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) nuclear plant a 4 according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). Three Mile Island was rated 5 while Chernobyl was rated 7 on the 1 to 7 scale, the official said.
DEVASTATED COASTLINE
Along the northeast coast, rescue workers searched through the rubble of destroyed buildings, cars and boats, looking for survivors in hardest-hit areas such as the city of Sendai, 300 km (180 miles) northeast of Tokyo.
Aerial footage showed buildings, trains and even light aircraft strewn like children's toys after powerful walls of seawater swamped areas around Sendai.
In Iwanuma, not far from Sendai, nurses and doctors were rescued on Saturday after spelling S.O.S. on the rooftop of a partially submerged hospital, one of many desperate scenes. In cities and towns, worried relatives checked information boards on survivors at evacuation centers.