aftershock in Japan

aftershock in Japan
A strong 6.0 magnitude aftershock rocked Japan's Fukushima prefecture, a day after a devastating earthquake triggered a tsunami that has left at least 1,700 people dead or unaccounted for.

The quake with a preliminary magnitude occurred at 10; 15 pm local time, Kyodo news agency said.

The quake was followed by several tremblors off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan over the next hour.

The 6.0 magnitude aftershock came after an explosion at Fukushima nuclear plant in northern Japan, 250 kilometres north of Tokyo, destroying the building housing the reactor and triggering radiation leaks.

The radiation leak was low after the explosion destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is placed, but not the actual metal housing enveloping the reactor, Government spokesman Yukio Edano told reporters. The explosion which left four persons injured led to a "nationwide atomic alert".

Kyodo news agency said the combined number of people who have died or are unaccounted for in yesterday''s double disaster that devastated the country''s north-western coast is feared to top 1,700.

Local media reports said at least 1,300 may have been killed while Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said it was believed that more than 1,000 people had died.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Naoto Kan inspected areas of northeastern Japan affected by the earth quake, and said the government will do all it can to save people.

He also inspected Fukushima nuclear plant 1 where the radiation has been detected.

There were fears that the death toll would rise with Fuji TV reporting that as many as 10,000 people were missing in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi. One report said four whole trains had disappeared and still not been located