The government declared a state of atomic power emergency Friday after the Tohoku region was hit by what is being called the strongest earthquake in Japanese history and urged around 3,000 residents near a reactor in Fukushima Prefecture to evacuate.

The evacuation advisory was issued for people living within a 3-km radius of the plant, while those living within a 10-km radius were requested to stay home, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said, adding the measure was precautionary.

Edano said one of the reactors cannot be cooled down. He added that no radiation has leaked and the incident poses no danger to the environment at the moment.