Japan raised the severity level of its nuclear crisis ranking it as equally as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
The rating was raised on the International Nuclear Event scale to the highest level of 7 from 5, Japanese regulators said after newly assessing radiation leaks at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
Level 7 is classified as a "major accident," the most serious on the international scale, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.