Australians Encouraged to Leave Japan

Added by Annika L. Krugel on March 17, 2011

Australians living in Tokyo or other areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami should leave Japan unless they have a real need to stay, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) say.

The updated travel advice to Australians was released on Wednesday, but was not due to fears of nuclear radiation, the DFAT said.

“We are providing this advice because of the continuing disruption to major infrastructure, its impact on the welfare of people on the ground and continuing aftershocks,” a DFAT statement read.

According to the statement, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency and Department of Health had said that those who were present in the Fukushima area at the time when the reactors exploded could face “a small chance of low level contamination,” but that the health effects from the contamination was low to negligible.

No special travel arrangements have been made as many commercial flights are available. 94 Australians are still unaccounted for, a reduction from 144 from earlier today.

“At this point, all we know is that we have not been able to contact 94 Australians who we have reason to believe were in the worst-affected areas,” DFAT said.