[9:15 a.m. ET Wednesday, 10:15 p.m. in Tokyo] The governments in Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures have asked the Japan Prefabricated Construction Suppliers & Manufacturers Association to build almost 33,000 homes to temporarily house those displaced by the quake and tsunami, Kyodo News service reports. At least 430,000 people are staying in shelters across eight prefectures, according to Kyodo.
[8:33 a.m. ET Wednesday, 9:33 p.m. in Tokyo] Severe damage to the containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is unlikely, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Wednesday, according to a Kyodo News service report.
[7:55 a.m. ET Wednesday, 8:55 p.m. in Tokyo] Two U.S. military water trucks are being sent to help in cooling damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the U.S. military says. The trucks will not be operated by U.S. military personnel, but by employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the nuclear plant.
[7:44 a.m. ET Wednesday, 8:44 p.m. in Tokyo] The number of dead and missing from Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Japan now exceeds 12,000 people, authorities said. The death toll stands at 4,164 as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Police Agency Emergency Disaster Headquarters. As of 6 p.m. (5 a.m. ET), at least 7,843 people were missing and 2,218 injured, officials said. The number of dead is expected to go up as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
[7:31 a.m. ET Wednesday, 8:31 p.m. in Tokyo] Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will not resume vehicle production at its Japanese plants for another week. Parts production is expected to resume Thursday in an effort to make parts available for vehicles in Japan, according to a statement on the company's website. Parts production for overseas plants is expected to resume next Monday.
[7:06 a.m. ET Wednesday, 8:06 p.m. in Tokyo] The number of nuclear workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was slashed Tuesday from 800 to 50, but had grown to 180 by Wednesday afternoon, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said.
"Their situation is not great," said David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. "It's pretty clear that they will be getting very high doses of radiation. There's certainly the potential for lethal doses of radiation. They know it, and I think you have to call these people heroes."
[6:48 a.m. ET Wednesday, 7:48 p.m. in Tokyo] Tests revealed traces of radiation in tap water in Fukushima city, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Daiichi nuclear plant, the local government said Wednesday. The Fukushima prefecture's nuclear department said amounts of radioactive cesium and iodine that are not harmful to the human body were found in water samples taken at 8 a.m. Wednesday (7 p.m. ET Tuesday). Government officials said the traces found are connected with the nuclear plant. A measurement of the tap water supply taken later in the day found no traces of iodine or cesium.
[6:40 a.m. ET Wednesday, 7:40 p.m. in Tokyo] The earthquake and tsunami have left at least 1.6 million Japanese residences without water, public broadcaster NHK reports, citing Japan's Health Ministry. More than 300 water trucks have been sent to the hardest-hit areas, according to the report.
[6:14 a.m. ET Wednesday, 7:14 p.m. in Tokyo] Continental Corporation, a German tire and auto parts maker, has flown its foreign staffers and their families out of Japan as a precaution. Its Japanese staff were being moved to locations in southern Japan.
[6:03 a.m. ET Wednesday, 7:03 p.m. in Tokyo] The Korean Peninsula moved up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) to the east because of last week's quake off the coast of Japan, South Korea's Astronomy and Space Science Institute said Wednesday, according to the Yonhap News Agency. The quake moved Japan's main island of Honshu 8 feet (243 centimeters), the U.S. Geological Survey reported earlier.
[5:50 a.m. ET Wednesday, 6:50 p.m. in Tokyo] A speech by Japan's emperor Wednesday marked the first time in Japan's history that an emperor has addressed his country during a crisis on television, according to the country's Imperial Household Agency. Emperor Akihito's direct appeal to the public - when he told citizens to not lose hope after last week's natural disasters - is also considered exceptional and extraordinary in Japan.
[5:41 a.m. ET Wednesday, 6:41 p.m. in Tokyo] South Korea is sending more than 50 tons of boric acid, a material to help slow down nuclear fission reactions, to Japan for use Tokyo Electric Power's damaged nuclear facilities, Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea's Ministry of Knowledge Economy said it was supplying the boric acid at the request of Japan after Tokyo used its reserves of the material at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
[5:22 a.m. ET Wednesday, 6:22 p.m. in Tokyo] A Japan Self-Defense Force helicopter aborted its mission to drop water over the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor because of radiation levels in the area, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.
[5:20 a.m. ET Wednesday, 6:20 p.m. in Tokyo] Radiation levels taken Wednesday afternoon between 20 kilometers and 30 kilometers from the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant do not pose an immediate health risk, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
[5:15 a.m. ET Wednesday, 6:15 p.m. in Tokyo] 80,000 Japan Self-Defense Force and police personnel have been mobilized for quake and tsunami relief, Kyodo News service reported Wednesday.
[4:53 a.m. ET Wednesday, 5:53 p.m. in Tokyo] The British Embassy will operate a coach from the disaster-ravaged city of Sendai to Tokyo on Thursday, the Foreign Office said.
A doctor in China said residents there need not panic about radiation from the damaged plant. "The winds are prevailing in a different direction, they're going eastward," said Dr. Philip Brooks at Beijing United Family Hospital.
[4:28 a.m. ET Wednesday, 5:28 p.m. in Tokyo] The number of missing and injured people from Friday's quake and subsequent tsunami rose Wednesday afternoon, according to authorities.
As of 4 p.m. (3 a.m. ET), at least 8,181 people were missing and 2,218 were injured, according to the National Police Agency Emergency Disaster Headquarters. The death toll stood at 3,771.
[3:44 a.m. ET Wednesday, 4:44 p.m. in Tokyo] Japan Emperor Akihito told his nation to not give up hope and said the hearts of the international community were with Japan, in a rare, nationally televised address.
Emperor Akihito called Japan's earthquake and tsunami an unprecedented incident, saying the scope of the death toll is still unknown. However, the emperor's remarks focused on comforting a nation reeling from the disaster.
Emperor Akihito said he cares deeply for the Japanese people and was moved by his people's calm and order. He said in this kind of emergency, "We need to understand and help each other."
The emperor also said he was deeply grateful for the help from the international community and that the imperial household had received messages from all over the world that "their hearts are with us."
Akihito addressed the nation on national TV, a rare event that only occurs in times of war or national crisis.
[3:42 a.m. ET Wednesday, 4:42 p.m. in Tokyo] Japanese stocks rebounded Wednesday, with the leading stock index recovering nearly 6% from a two-day plunge stemming from the crisis created by the March 11 earthquake.
The Nikkei 225 index, the most prominent measure of Tokyo market stocks, ended up 489 points, or 5.7%.
The rebound came after intense selling over the previous two days, the first full-day sessions following the quake. On Tuesday, the index plunged 10.6%, marking the third worst one-day plunge in the Nikkei's history. The losses over two days totaled more than 16%.
[3:25 a.m. ET Wednesday, 4:25 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] Video from NHK Japan shows two helicopters in the air over reactor No. 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi. According to NHK, one helicopter is supposed to measure radiation levels at the reactor while the second helicopter is supposed to drop water on the reactor.
[3:07 a.m. ET Wednesday, 4:07 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] As a safety precaution, the Japanese government is now telling people living within a 10-kilometer radius of the Daini plant, the second nuclear power plant in Fukushima, to evacuate.
The Daini plant, which has four reactors, has reported fluctuating temperatures at its suppression pools. The Daini plant's reactors have been stopped, and there has been no radioactivity leakage so far.
[2:32 a.m. ET Wednesday, 3:32 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] French Prime Minister Francois Fillon suggested citizens who are not compelled to stay in Tokyo leave for France or the south of Japan now, according to an embassy statement Wednesday.
Fillon said the government has asked Air France to mobilize planes in Asia to respond without delay to requests for evacuations, and two aircraft were en route to Japan. Departures were scheduled for Thursday.
[2:20 a.m. ET Wednesday, 3:20 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] The death toll in Japan from Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami rose to 3,771 Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
[1:43 a.m. ET Wednesday, 2:43 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] Food safety officers at Indian ports and airports have been asked to test food that came to the country from Japan after March 11 for radiation, India's Health Ministry said.
[1:10 a.m. ET Wednesday, 2:10 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] Workers have returned to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant after an evacuation order was lifted, Tokyo Electric Power Company said.
[12:30 a.m. ET Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Tokyo] The death toll in Japan from Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami stood at 3,676 Wednesday afternoon, authorities said, though the number of missing people increased.
As of 12:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. Tuesday ET), at least 7,843 people were missing and 2,044 injured, according to the National Police Agency Emergency Disaster Headquarters.
A white cloud of smoke or steam rising above Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have been caused by a breach in the containment vessel in reactor No. 3, government officials said.
A spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency later told reporters that analysts were still trying to determine the cause of fluctuating radiation levels at the plant, but that radiation levels may have increased "because the containment vessel in reactor No. 3 has been damaged."
U.S. government experts trying to construct a model of radiation plumes emanating from the plant are being hampered by a "paucity of good data," a senior administration official said.
Workers at the plant have suspended their operations and been evacuated, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Wednesday.
Cold weather has increased the hardship for earthquake victims and rescuers. Conditions are expected to worsen, with temperatures forecast to drop below freezing by Wednesday across portions of the earthquake zone.
Stocks in Japan opened higher Wednesday morning, one day after the nation's main market index suffered one of its biggest drops on record. The Nikkei 225 index, the most prominent measure of Tokyo market stocks, rose 520 points, or 6%, shortly after the market opened.
