Japan ranks Fukushima disaster on par with Chernobyl

Japan nuclear agency has raised severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

According to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the amount of radiation emission released at the Fukushima plant was equivalent to 10 percent of Chernobyl, the Xinhua reported.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency lifted the rating level to 7, from 5, an agency official was quoted as saying.

The level 7 signifies a major accident with wider consequences than the previous level, according to the standards scale.

We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean, said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told Associated Press.

The Japanese authorities have been fighting to keep the troubled Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant safe from radiation leaks since the March 11 earthquake.