Embassies continued Friday to evacuate citizens and shut down or relocate diplomatic offices in Tokyo amid grave international concern over the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture and the lack of timely, credible information on what is happening.
The Japanese government has told residents within 20 km of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power station to evacuate, but the United States and the United Kingdom are telling nationals within 80 km of the plant to leave "as a precaution" or to take shelter indoors if safe relocation is not possible.
According to the French Embassy, 280 citizens have been flown back to France and 10,000 iodine tablets are ready to be distributed to French residents in Japan to protect their thyroid glands. French ex-pats have also been advised to either return to France or go farther south in Japan.