Scores flee Tokyo as radiation fears grow
Source: Agencies |
March 16, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SCORES of people fled Tokyo yesterday while others stayed indoors over fears that radiation from an earthquake-stricken nuclear plant could waft over one of the world's biggest and most densely populated cities.
Despite assurances from the city government that low levels of radioactivity detected in Tokyo were for now "not a problem," residents, expatriates and tourists decided staying in Japan's capital was too risky.
Several companies evacuated staff. Visitors cut short vacations. Some airlines cancelled flights and the United States Federal Aviation Administration said it was preparing to reroute flights if the crisis worsened.
Those who remained in Tokyo hoarded food and supplies, fearing the worst from the radiation threat that spread panic in this bustling, ultra-modern and hyper-efficient metropolis of 12 million people.
At the city's main airports, hundreds of people lined up, many with children, boarding flights out.
"I'm not too worried about another earthquake. It's radiation that scares me," said Masashi Yoshida, cradling his 5-month-old daughter Hana at Haneda Airport.
Tourists such as American Christy Niver, of Egan, Minnesota, said she'd had enough. Her 10-year-old daughter, Lucy, was more emphatic. "I'm scared. I'm so scared I would rather be in the eye of a tornado," she said. "I want to leave."
Confidence shaken
The stricken Fukushima nuclear power facility is 240 kilometers north of Tokyo. Officials said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal by evening but not harmful to health.
However, confidence in the government is shaken, and many people prepared for the worst.
Don Quixote, a multistory, 24-hour general store in the trendy Roppongi district, was sold out of radios, flashlights, candles, fuel cans and sleeping bags.
Many stores ran out of rice, while aisles that once stocked instant noodles and bread were empty.
Waiting at Narita Airport, Gunta Brunner, a 25-year-old creative director from Argentina, said the risk of radiation exposure was more terrifying than another disaster.
"In an earthquake you can survive without many problems because in Tokyo everything is prepared. With the tsunami, if you are in the middle of Japan or in Tokyo it's not a problem. But with the radiation, you cannot escape and you can't see it."
Flights heading into Tokyo yesterday were nearly empty.
The French Embassy is advising its citizens to leave.
The German Embassy is urging its nationals to consider doing the same, especially those with families.
Amid concerns about radiation, Austria moved its embassy from Tokyo to Osaka.
Despite assurances from the city government that low levels of radioactivity detected in Tokyo were for now "not a problem," residents, expatriates and tourists decided staying in Japan's capital was too risky.
Several companies evacuated staff. Visitors cut short vacations. Some airlines cancelled flights and the United States Federal Aviation Administration said it was preparing to reroute flights if the crisis worsened.
Those who remained in Tokyo hoarded food and supplies, fearing the worst from the radiation threat that spread panic in this bustling, ultra-modern and hyper-efficient metropolis of 12 million people.
At the city's main airports, hundreds of people lined up, many with children, boarding flights out.
"I'm not too worried about another earthquake. It's radiation that scares me," said Masashi Yoshida, cradling his 5-month-old daughter Hana at Haneda Airport.
Tourists such as American Christy Niver, of Egan, Minnesota, said she'd had enough. Her 10-year-old daughter, Lucy, was more emphatic. "I'm scared. I'm so scared I would rather be in the eye of a tornado," she said. "I want to leave."
Confidence shaken
The stricken Fukushima nuclear power facility is 240 kilometers north of Tokyo. Officials said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal by evening but not harmful to health.
However, confidence in the government is shaken, and many people prepared for the worst.
Don Quixote, a multistory, 24-hour general store in the trendy Roppongi district, was sold out of radios, flashlights, candles, fuel cans and sleeping bags.
Many stores ran out of rice, while aisles that once stocked instant noodles and bread were empty.
Waiting at Narita Airport, Gunta Brunner, a 25-year-old creative director from Argentina, said the risk of radiation exposure was more terrifying than another disaster.
"In an earthquake you can survive without many problems because in Tokyo everything is prepared. With the tsunami, if you are in the middle of Japan or in Tokyo it's not a problem. But with the radiation, you cannot escape and you can't see it."
Flights heading into Tokyo yesterday were nearly empty.
The French Embassy is advising its citizens to leave.
The German Embassy is urging its nationals to consider doing the same, especially those with families.
Amid concerns about radiation, Austria moved its embassy from Tokyo to Osaka.
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