Japan earthquake: France tells nationals to leave Tokyo due to threats posed by nuclear power plants

[jpak]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8379339/Japan-earthquake-France-tells-nationals-to-leave-Tokyo.html

The advice from Paris is the most alarmist response from any major country. It warned its nationals to leave the Tokyo area "for a few days" due to the risks of a possible strong new quake in Japan and problems posed by the Fukushima nuclear plant.

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The French embassy in Tokyo said it had based its assessment on a warning from the Japan meteorological agency that an aftershock with a magnitude of seven or higher was probable in the region.

"The probability of such an event taking place in the next three days is 70 per cent, and 50 per cent in the two days following," the embassy said.
The French authorities also noted the "uncertainty over the nuclear issue" after Tokyo said small levels of radiation had escaped from reactors at Fukushima.

It warned that should one of the reactors explode, radioactive steam could reach the Tokyo area "in a matter of hours", depending on the direction and speed of the wind, creating a possible risk of contamination.

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