Japan facing worst post-World War II crisis, says premier

In the wake of Japan's strongest earthquake on record and fears of a meltdown at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, Kan said the situation at the plant "continues to be in an alarming state", according to Kyodo news.

Kan also approved conducting planned power outages starting Monday to prevent any massive supply disruptions. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the outages would be done by region, for periods of three hours at a time.