Justiça do Rio decreta quebra do sigilo eletrônico de atirador

11/04/2011 - 22h34

(para proteger quem?)

Publicidade

DO RIO

A Justiça do Rio decretou nesta segunda-feira a quebra do sigilo eletrônico de Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, 23, que atirou contra alunos da escola municipal Tasso da Silveira, em Realengo (zona oeste), matando 12 deles na quinta-feira (7).

Veja os papéis encontrados na casa do atirador
Policiais que atuaram contra o massacre são promovidos
Governo antecipa campanha do desarmamento
Salas onde alunos morreram não terão mais aulas
Mesmo com tragédia, pai diz que vai manter filho em escola
Psicólogo forense deve fazer perfil de atirador em até 30 dias

A partir da autorização judicial, a polícia do Rio começou a analisar os e-mails recebidos e enviados pelo atirador, além de suas conversas por meio de mensagens instantâneas e redes sociais.

As investigações mostraram que Wellington tinha contato com pelo menos seis pessoas por meio de MSN (serviço de mensagens instantâneas da Microsoft). A polícia Civil também analisa diversos papéis apreendidos em sua casa, em Sepetiba (zona oeste), para traçar o perfil psicológico do atirador e esclarecer a motivação do ataque.

	Rafael Andrade/Folhapress
	Carro da PM vigia casa onde morava irmã de atirador de Realengo para evitar novos atos de vandalismo

CARTAS

Em anotações exibidas ontem no "Fantástico", da TV Globo, o atirador pôs a culpa pelo massacre nos que o humilharam na escola na adolescência.

"Muitas vezes, aconteceu comigo de ser agredido por um grupo e todos os que estavam por perto debochavam, se divertiam com as humilhações que eu sofria sem se importar com meus sentimentos", escreveu ele.

"Não sou eu o responsável pela morte de todos", prosseguiu. A culpa, de acordo com o atirador, é dos que "se aproveitam da bondade ou da inocência de um ser".

	Ricardo Moraes-10.abr.11/Reuters
	Pessoas prestaram homenagem no domingo em Copacabana às vítimas do massacre em uma escola municipal

MASSACRE

A tragédia ocorreu por volta das 8h30 do dia 7 de abril, após Wellington entrar na escola onde cursou o ensino fundamental e dizer que buscaria seu histórico escolar. Depois, disse que daria uma palestra e, já em uma sala de aula, começou a atirar nos alunos.

Relatos de sobreviventes afirmam que ele mirava na direção nas meninas. Uma das alunas contou aos policiais que, ao ouvir apelos para não atirar, Oliveira mirava na direção delas, tendo como alvo a cabeça.

Os policiais informaram ainda que, pelas análises preliminares, há indicações de que Oliveira treinou para executar o crime.

Durante o tiroteio, um garoto, ferido, conseguiu escapar e avisar a Polícia Militar. O policial Márcio Alexandre Alves relatou que Oliveira chegou a apontar a arma para ele quando estava na escada que dá acesso ao terceiro andar do prédio, onde alunos estavam escondidos. O policial disse ter atirado no criminoso e pedido que ele largasse a arma. Em seguida, Oliveira se matou com um tiro na cabeça.

A motivação do crime será investigada. De acordo com a polícia, o atirador usou dois revólveres e tinha muita munição. Além de colete a prova de balas, usava cinturão com armamento. Em carta (leia íntegra aqui), o criminoso fala em "perdão de Deus" e diz que quer ser enterrado ao lado de sua mãe.

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Pelo menos um tem vergonha na cara : Tiririca devolve à Câmara dinheiro gasto em hotel de Fortaleza

( Qualquer outro politico , mais "acostumado " ao cargo e a turminha da vida politica , não devolve ! Mas nem passa pela cabeça , afinal o dinheiro publico é tratado como cú de babado, não tem dono )

Publicidade

MARIA CLARA CABRAL
DE BRASÍLIA

O deputado Tiririca (PR-SP) devolveu à Câmara o dinheiro da verba indenizatória usado em um hotel luxuoso em Fortaleza (CE), segundo informou sua assessoria.

Em março, Tiririca apresentou notas fiscais de R$ 660 de hospedagem e R$ 311 de alimentação no Porto d'Aldeira Resort, que fica cercado por dunas, com piscina e vista para o mar da capital cearense.

Tiririca contrata humoristas como secretários parlamentares
TJ-RJ mantém decisão que condena música de Tiririca por racismo
Tiririca ganha game no Facebook

O uso indevido da verba foi revelado pelo jornal "O Estado de S. Paulo".

Os valores das diárias e da alimentação não constam mais da página de internet da Câmara.

Tiririca, deputado federal mais votado de São Paulo da eleição de 2010, também contratou em seu gabinete em Brasília dois comediantes que ficam em São Paulo e não dão expediente na capital federal.

Os humoristas do programa Café com Bobagem, Américo Niccolini e Ivan de Oliveira, trabalharam na campanha de Tiririca e foram responsáveis pelo slogan: "Vote no Tiririca, pior que tá, não fica!", e "O que é que faz um deputado federal? Na realidade, não sei. Mas vote em mim que eu te conto".

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NATO questions Tripoli 'cease-fire'

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Severity of Japan nuclear emergency 'equal to Chernobyl'

The Japanese government nuclear safety agency has raised the crisis level at the Fukushima Daiichi plant from five to seven - putting it on a par with the Chernobyl disaster.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the damaged plant has released a dangerous amount of radioactive substances - although less than the after the 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl - hundreds of thousands of terabecquerels of radioactive iodine-131 were released into the air.

The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale indicates the severity of a nuclear accident from one to seven - with Chenobyl previously being the only incident to be rated level 7.

Meanwhile, a fire that broke out at the Fukushima Daichi plant this morning has been extinguished, following a large aftershock off the coast of Japan's Honshu island.

The earthquake, a magnitude 6.3 according to the United States Geological Survey, struck at 8.08am Japan time (11.08am NZT) and was centred 77km south-east of Tokyo, at a depth of 13.1km.

Neither the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre or the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory.

Kyodo News reported the Joetsu, Nagano, Tohoku and Takaido shinkansen (bullet train) lines were closed following the quake, but have since resumed. The runways at the Narita airport have also been reopened after being closed for checks in the wake of the quake.

- NZHERALD STAFF, with AGENCIES

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Heroes and realists found among the brave "Fukushima 700"

2011/04/12

The second floor in the basement of a waste disposal facility at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant remains flooded with about 30 centimeters of water on Friday. The disposal facility will be used to store highly contaminated water. (Provided by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency)

Editor's note: We will update our earthquake news as frequently as possible on AJW's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AJW.Asahi. Please check the latest developments in this disaster. From Toshio Jo, managing editor, International Division, The Asahi Shimbun.

* * *

Although lionized as the "Fukushima 50" by the foreign media, there are in fact about 700 workers engaged in the daily struggle with the "invisible enemy" at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

A month has passed in the dangerous and lonely efforts to resolve the crisis at the nuclear plant, and still, there is no end in sight. There are many tales emerging of the unselfishness and bravery of these workers, while others take a more realistic view of why they are risking their lives amid high radiation levels to cool down the plant's overheating fuel rods.

A man in his 40s, who was dispatched to Fukushima No. 1 from a partner of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), said, "I did not want to go there. But if I reject the request, I will lose my job."

The daily pay is less than 20,000 yen ($236).

"I hear some construction workers were employed at a wage of several tens of thousands of yen per hour. But we are working on a conventional daily wage as our company has had cooperative relationships with TEPCO," the man said.

Meanwhile, many of the man's colleagues volunteered to go into the plant, saying, "We are the only workers (that can do the job)." Because of that gung-ho spirit, they share a sense of solidarity, the man added.

At one of the plant's subcontractors, the president and elderly executives volunteered, hoping that they would be chosen instead of younger workers, because they were worried about the long-term health effects on them.

"Even we can do simple work, such as laying cables," one of the elderly executives said.

Immediately after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, the number of TEPCO employees and others from the firm's business partners, such as Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., at Fukushima No. 1 totaled more than 700. After an explosion took place at a building housing the No. 2 reactor on March 15, however, most of them evacuated. Only about 70 workers remained and continued the recovery work.

Their number was initially announced as 50. Because of that, foreign media labeled them the "Fukushima 50," and the heroic tag stuck.

Today, the more accurate "Fukushima 700" at the plant are classified into such groups as "recovery," "information," "medical service" and "security."

When the crisis began in mid-March, many workers stayed in the plant's compound for more than 10 days in a row. At present, they are working in alternate shifts, taking two days off at a time.

This month, a TEPCO employee living in the Tokyo metropolitan area told his wife, "I may have to go (to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant) again."

He went to the plant several days after the earthquake and continued to stay there. Recently, he was allowed to return home. Even at his office in Tokyo, however, he is working from early in the morning to midnight every day, and there is little time to talk with family members.

"Even if you have no health problems now, will you be in good health in the future?" his concerned wife asked him.

Meanwhile, heated exchanges took place during a meeting of a group company of Hitachi, immediately after the nuclear crisis began.

An employee of the section in charge of the recovery work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant challenged an employee in charge of engineering management: "How many workers can you send (to the nuclear plant)? Show us your determination."

To resolve the crisis, the employee urged the latter to share in the on-site work at the nuclear plant instead of issuing orders from a safe distance. As a result of the discussion, many engineers went into the nuclear plant.

A mid-level executive of the company recalled, "It was a difficult decision," as the job could endanger the lives of the workers.

What workers found at Fukushima No. 1 in the beginning was a lack of adequate safety equipment and spartan living conditions.

At the start of the nuclear crisis, there was an insufficient number of dosimeters to measure radiation levels. Because of that, about 180 workers were engaged in the recovery work without them.

Their living conditions were poor. They had only hard biscuits and vegetable juice in the morning and canned food and emergency rice at night. They slept on floors during their shifts.

Currently, the workers have meals three times a day, and some can stay at facilities located away from the plant. According to TEPCO sources, every worker now has access to a dosimeter.

However, many workers say that they may have already been exposed to much radiation.

In late March, the radiation level rose in a building that is serving as the headquarters of the recovery work efforts, alarming the workers.

The building is equipped with an air-conditioning system that does not let in outside air and the walls are also thick. TEPCO has additionally replaced filters for air ventilation with new ones. It also installed 77 lead-covered boards on windows to prevent gamma rays from entering the building,

An employee of a company that has dispatched its workers to the Fukushima plant added, "We want to make the dispatched workers wear lead-lined suits."

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had "whole body counters," which measures "internal exposure," or level of radiation in the human body. However, those counters were rendered useless due to damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The internal exposure is now measured by inspection vehicles.

Despite the precautions for worker safety at Fukushima No. 1, there is concern.

"Some workers may have radiation-caused symptoms after several years," said Atsushi Suzuki, a lawyer who previously handled a labor disaster compensation issue for a nuclear power plant worker.

Suzuki represented a man who worked at the Fukushima No. 1 plant from 1977 to 1982 as a plumber and on other jobs.

After he left the workplace, he was diagnosed as suffering from multiple myeloma, a deadly bone marrow cancer. He died in 2007.

The man was recognized to have died from exposure to radiation. In a suit seeking compensation, however, TEPCO did not acknowledge its responsibility. As a result, his demand for compensation was rejected.

"It is extremely difficult to prove scientifically the cause-and-effect-relationship between exposure to radiation and a disease that broke out later," Suzuki said. "I think that people currently engaged in recovery work (at the Fukushima No. 1 plant) do not have the leeway to prevent exposure to radiation by themselves. It is necessary for the government and TEPCO to fully consider sufficient prevention measures and compensation (to those who suffered radiation-caused diseases)."

(This article was written by Manabu Sasaki, Hiroyoshi Itabashi, Hiroaki Kojima and Ryujiro Komatsu.)

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Radiation evacuation zone to be extended beyond 20 km

2011/04/12

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano at a news conference Monday (The Asahi Shimbun)

The government said Monday it will issue new evacuation orders for areas with high levels of accumulated radiation that lie beyond the 20-kilometer radius of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, despite complaints from two local mayors.

The orders will cover certain areas within the 20- to 30-kilometer radius in which residents have been instructed to remain indoors. It will also include some areas that lie beyond the 30-km radius.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the new orders will apply to the villages of Iitate and Katsurao, the town of Namie and parts of the town of Kawamata and the city of Minami-Soma, all in Fukushima Prefecture.

Edano said at a news conference Monday afternoon the government will ask residents to evacuate in about a month.

"We will not ask residents to evacuate immediately," he said. "But we have decided on the policy, taking long-term risks into consideration."

The chief Cabinet secretary had said earlier Monday that, "a measure of new dimension is necessary to secure safety from the viewpoint of dealing with accumulated radioactive materials."

Edano explained the new evacuation orders will apply to dispersed areas, unlike the current concentric zone extending from the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

The new evacuation zone, called a planned evacuation area, covers areas projected to suffer an accumulated radiation of 20 millisieverts or more annually.

Residents, after a certain preparation period, will evacuate these areas using buses or other transportation means.

Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno said Monday that government officials asked Iitate authorities the previous day to evacuate residents within a month.

"We resisted, but the government would not listen," Kanno said.

Kawamata Mayor Michio Furukawa said Sunday that Tadahiro Matsushita, senior vice industry minister, and Tetsuro Fukuyama, deputy chief Cabinet secretary, explained the government's plan.

"The area to be covered is too wide. We asked (the government) to reconsider and narrow the area," Furukawa said.

Most of Iitate and Kawamata are outside the 30-kilometer radius.

Speaking about the new evacuation zone, Fukuyama said on a Fuji Television Network Inc. program on Sunday that Prime Minister Naoto Kan has told government officials to put the safety of residents above anything else.

The amounts of accumulated radiation have been rising in northern Fukushima Prefecture and other places due to the wind direction.

The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan had told the government that residents should be evacuated from areas with more than 20 millisieverts of accumulated radiation.

The proposal was based on the International Commission on Radiological Protection's recommendation that measures be taken in emergencies in which people are exposed to 20 to 100 millisieverts of radiation annually.

Meanwhile, the government will prohibit people from entering the initial evacuation area, which is within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, by designating it an "alert zone" under the basic law on disaster control measures.

At the same time, the government plans to allow residents to go back home temporarily in the zone under certain conditions.

In a rare piece of good news, the Science Ministry reported Sunday that airborne radiation levels that surged sharply following the explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 plant are declining over broad areas after peaking March 15-16. Radiation levels have dropped throughout Fukushima Prefecture and are at, or are approaching, normal levels in the Kanto region and elsewhere, according to results released by the science ministry.

Radiation levels have fallen below normal levels in Gumma Prefecture. In seven prefectures, including Fukushima, they still exceed normal levels, but are approaching normal values in Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo. The March 14-15 explosions at the plant had pushed up radiation levels above normal ranges in 10 prefectures on March 15-16.

In Fukushima Prefecture, the level in the town of Namie, which peaked at 170 microsieverts per hour at 2 p.m. on March 17, has fallen to 25.2 microsieverts per hour as of Sunday. The accumulated radiation for the March 23 to April 9 period was 13.95 millisieverts. Radiation levels have also fallen to 1.8 microsieverts per hour (24.24 at peak time) in Fukushima city and to 5.68 microsieverts per hour (44.7 at peak time) in Iitate.

The radiation level in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, which peaked at 0.496 microsieverts per hour, six times in excess of the normal value, stood at 0.083 microsieverts per hour at maximum Sunday, close to the normal value (0.079).

A peak waterborne cesium-137 concentration of 44.2 becquerels per liter was detected Sunday about 35 kilometers to the northeast of Fukushima No. 1, although this was still below the safety standard level. The iodine-131 concentration was 77.4 becquerels per liter at the same location, which exceeded safety standards.

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REPORTS: #JAPAN RAISES NUKE CRISIS LEVEL TO THE HIGHEST ON SCALE

by kraus

There are reports from multiple Japanese media outlets that Japan has raised the Nuclear Crisis Alert level to a 7. That is equal to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. It is the highest on the International scale used to measure a nuclear crisis.

Tune into your local FOX News Radio affiliate for more on this developing story.

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Trabalhadores do Minha Casa, Minha Vida vivem sob condições degradantes em SP, diz jornal

Oferta de empregos atrai para a região Sudeste moradores do Norte e Nordeste

Fiscais do Ministério do Trabalho e procuradores do Ministério Público do Trabalho flagraram trabalhadores em condições degradante s nos canteiros de obras de casas populares do Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC) em São Paulo. A maioria dos casos partiu de denúncias do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Construção Civil da região de Campinas, segundo reportagem publicada nesta segunda-feira pelo jornal Folha de S.Paulo.

A oferta de emprego nas obras do programa Minha Casa, Minha Vida tem atraído moradores do Norte e do Nordeste do país para a região Sudeste. A maioria deles vive em locais superlotados, comcolchões ou beliches construídos com madeira da própria obra ao lado de botijões de gás e rede elétrica.

Segundo o jornal, os operários são contratados por empreiteiros terceirizados de grandes construtoras e ganham abaixo do piso da categoria (de R$ 990 para pedreiro, por exemplo), apesar da promessa de que receberiam o dobro. Em muitos casos, a carteira de trabalho fica retida com o empregador e muitos funcionários ficam sem receber salário.

Em fevereiro, a Polícia Federal chegou a prender três pessoas da empreiteira JKRJ, prestadora de serviços da Odebrecht e da Goldfarb, responsáveis pelas obras na região, por suspeita de aliciamento e maus tratos.

As três construtoras notificadas pelo Ministério Público do Trabalho por casos de funcionários em situação degradante (Odebrecht, MRV e Goldfarb) afirmaram ter assumido a responsabilidade de solucionar os problemas.

ZERO HORA

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Japan shaken by quake after more evacuations urged

ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press, JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press

Updated 05:02 a.m., Monday, April 11, 2011

SENDAI, Japan (AP) — A strong new earthquake rattled Japan's northeast Monday as the government urged more people living near a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant to leave, citing concerns about long-term health risks from radiation.

The magnitude 7.0 aftershock came just hours after people bowed their heads and wept in somber ceremonies to mark a month since a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed up to 25,000 people and set off a crisis of radiation leaks at the nuclear plant by knocking out its cooling systems.

"Even after a month, I still cry when I watch the news," said Marina Seito, 19, a student at a junior college who recalled being in a basement restaurant in Sendai when the original 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit on March 11. Plates fell and parts of the ceiling crashed down around her.

Officials said Monday's aftershock did not endanger operations at the tsunami-flooded Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where power was cut by the aftershock but quickly restored. The epicenter was just inland and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that residents of five more communities, some of them more than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the plant, were urged to evacuate within a month because of high levels of radiation. People living in a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius around the plant already have been evacuated.

"This is not an emergency measure that people have to evacuate immediately," he said. "We have decided this measure based on long-term health risks."

Edano sounded a grave note, acknowledging that "the nuclear accident has not stabilized" and that "we cannot deny the possibility the situation could get worse."

The latest quake, the second major aftershock in less than a week, spooked people yet again in a disaster-weary northeastern Japan. Customers in a large electronics store in Sendai screamed and ran outside and mothers grabbed their children, but there were no immediate reports of more damage or injuries.

Japanese officials said the quake was a 7.0 magnitude, but the U.S. Geological Survey said it measured magnitude 6.6.

With workers still far from bringing the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant under control, the bodies of thousands of tsunami victims yet to be found and more than 150,000 people living in shelters, there was little time Monday for reflection on Japan's worst disaster since World War II.

People in hard-hit towns gathered for ceremonies at 2:46 p.m., the exact moment of the massive quake a month earlier.

"My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused the people of our prefecture," said Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima, which saw its coastal areas devastated by the tsunami and is home to the damaged plant at the center of the nuclear crisis. "I have no words to express my sorrow."

In a devastated coastal neighborhood in the city of Natori, three dozen firemen and soldiers removed their hats and helmets and joined hands atop a small hill that has become a memorial for the dead. Earlier, four monks in pointed hats rang a prayer bell there as they chanted for those killed.

The noisy clatter of construction equipment ceased briefly as crane operators stood outside their vehicles and bowed their heads.

In the industrial town of Kamaishi, Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso led a moment of commemoration as a loud siren rang through a high school gymnasium being used as a shelter. He bowed while people who have lived there since the tsunami kneeled on makeshift futons, bowed their heads and clasped their hands.

The school's students will return to classes Tuesday even though 129 people are living in their gym. Some, like 16-year-old Keisuke Shirato, wore their baseball uniforms for Monday's ceremony. Shirato's family was not affected by the tsunami, but about half of his teammates lost their homes.

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  A woman takes futon bed mat from her home at Soma port, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Photo: Hiro Komae / AP
  A woman takes futon bed mat from her home at Soma port, Fukushima...
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  Workers construct the temporary housing facility for those forced to evacuate following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. Winners of a lottery draw began moving into 36 prefabricated units built on the premises of a junior high school. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  Workers construct the temporary housing facility for those forced...
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  Workers construct the temporary housing facility for those forced to evacuate following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. Winners of a lottery draw began moving into 36 prefabricated units built on the premises of a junior high school. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  Workers construct the temporary housing facility for those forced...
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  Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, left, shouts "Come on, Japan" along with Ishinomaki Mayor Hiroshi Kameyama, center, and other people as he visits Ishinomaki, a port town devastated by last month's earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, on Sunday April 10, 2011. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE Photo: Kyodo News / AP
  Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, left, shouts "Come on, Japan"...
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  Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center, listens to a fishery official, left, as he visits Ishinomaki, a port town devastated by last month's earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, on Sunday April 10, 2011. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE Photo: Kyodo News / AP
  Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center, listens to a fishery...
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  Protester raise clenched fists as they took to the streets in a rally against nuclear power in Tokyo, on Sunday, April 10, 2011, after a devastative earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in northeastern Japan last month. Some banners, like the one in center, carried a message protesting against what they called strengthening of the Japan-U.S. military alliance. Photo: Itsuo Inouye / AP
  Protester raise clenched fists as they took to the streets in a...
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  A Japanese Buddhist monk prays at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  A Japanese Buddhist monk prays at an area devastated by the March...
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  Japanese men walk among destroyed cars at an area hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  Japanese men walk among destroyed cars at an area hit by the March...
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  A vending machine stands intact in the area devastated by the March 11 tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan Saturday, April 9, 2011. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  A vending machine stands intact in the area devastated by the March...
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  A Japanese Buddhist monk prays at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  A Japanese Buddhist monk prays at an area devastated by the March...
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  A Japanese worker walks in the town destroyed by the March 11 tsunami of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan Sunday, April 10, 2011. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  A Japanese worker walks in the town destroyed by the March 11...
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  Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers search victims in the debris in Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Photo: Lee Jin-man / AP
  Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers search victims in the...
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  Relatives pray during a memorial ceremony for last month's tsunami victims in Kamaishi, northern Japan Sunday, April 10, 2011. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Eishi Miyasaka / AP
  Relatives pray during a memorial ceremony for last month's tsunami...
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  Women walk past a mountain of rubble as Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel work in the background in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. The Japanese and U.S. militaries launched another all-out search for the bodies of earthquake and tsunami victims along Japan's ravaged coast Sunday. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Hiroshi Adachi / AP
  Women walk past a mountain of rubble as Japan Ground Self-Defense...
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  Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force members search victims at an area devastated by the March 11 tsunami in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Daisuke Tomita / AP
  Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force members search victims at an area...
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  Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel erect white flags to mark the place where they suspect bodies are buried in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. The Japanese and U.S. militaries launched another all-out search for the bodies of earthquake and tsunami victims along Japan's ravaged coast Sunday. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Daisuke Tomita / AP
  Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel erect white flags to mark...
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  Relatives and residents pay their last respects to the victims of the March 11 disasters during a joint memorial ceremony held in Iwaizumi town, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Sunday, April 10, 2011. The banner reads "Joint farewell for victims of the East Japan earthquake disaster." JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Rieko Sasai / AP
  Relatives and residents pay their last respects to the victims of...
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  Japan Self-Defense Forces soldiers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of silence at the Miyagi Prefectural Government building in Sendai, northeastern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  Japan Self-Defense Forces soldiers at the disaster countermeasures...
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  Japanese soldiers clear the rubble from a classroom at an elementary school in Ishinomaki, northeastern Japan, on Monday April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE Photo: Kyodo News / AP
  Japanese soldiers clear the rubble from a classroom at an...
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  Workers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of silence at the Miyagi Prefectural Government building in Sendai, northeastern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  Workers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of...
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  Workers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of silence at the Miyagi Prefectural Government building in Sendai, northeastern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  Workers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of...
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  Workers at disaster countermeasures office take a moment of silence at Miyagi Prefectural Government building in Sendai, northern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Miho Ikeya / AP
  Workers at disaster countermeasures office take a moment of silence...
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  Workers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of silence at the Miyagi Prefectural Government building in Sendai, northeastern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  Workers at the disaster countermeasures office take a moment of...
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  Flowers are offered at a hospital in Rikuzentakata, northern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Tsuyoshi Matsumoto / AP
  Flowers are offered at a hospital in Rikuzentakata, northern Japan...
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  Elderly evacuees spend time at a shelter in Kesennuma, northern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Photo: Yomiuri Shimbun, Manabu Kato / AP
  Elderly evacuees spend time at a shelter in Kesennuma, northern...
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  Japanese soldiers make their way to an elementary school in a search and rescue operation in Ishinomaki, northeastern Japan, on Monday April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE Photo: Kyodo News / AP
  Japanese soldiers make their way to an elementary school in a...
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  A Japanese soldier hurls a tire from a classroom at an elementary school in Ishinomaki, northeastern Japan, on Monday April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE Photo: Kyodo News / AP
  A Japanese soldier hurls a tire from a classroom at an elementary...
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  A Japanese family walks along the flooded street at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the port town of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on Monday, April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago today a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  A Japanese family walks along the flooded street at an area...
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  A Japanese student prays for victims at an elementary school in Ishinomaki, northeastern Japan, on Monday April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE Photo: Kyodo News / AP
  A Japanese student prays for victims at an elementary school in...
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  Japanese police officers make their way through the rubble at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the port town of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on Monday, April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago today a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  Japanese police officers make their way through the rubble at an...
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  A man looks at newspapers about the information of the earthquake and tsunami on display at the Miyagi Prefectural Government building in Sendai, northeastern Japan Monday, April 11, 2011, one month after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  A man looks at newspapers about the information of the earthquake...
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  Japanese men make their way through the flooded street at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the port town of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Monday, April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago today a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  Japanese men make their way through the flooded street at an area...
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  A Japanese man rides a bicycle along a flooded street at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the port town of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Monday, April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago today a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  A Japanese man rides a bicycle along a flooded street at an area...
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  A man walks along a flooded street at an area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the port town of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Monday, April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago today a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. Photo: Sergey Ponomarev / AP
  A man walks along a flooded street at an area devastated by the...
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  Buddhist monks pray in an area destroyed by tsunami in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, April 11, 2011, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city. Photo: Vincent Yu / AP
  Buddhist monks pray in an area destroyed by tsunami in Natori,...

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SENDAI, Japan (AP) — A strong new earthquake rattled Japan's northeast Monday as the government urged more people living near a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant to leave, citing concerns about long-term health risks from radiation.

The magnitude 7.0 aftershock came just hours after people bowed their heads and wept in somber ceremonies to mark a month since a massive earthquake and tsunami that killed up to 25,000 people and set off a crisis of radiation leaks at the nuclear plant by knocking out its cooling systems.

"Even after a month, I still cry when I watch the news," said Marina Seito, 19, a student at a junior college who recalled being in a basement restaurant in Sendai when the original 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit on March 11. Plates fell and parts of the ceiling crashed down around her.

Officials said Monday's aftershock did not endanger operations at the tsunami-flooded Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where power was cut by the aftershock but quickly restored. The epicenter was just inland and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that residents of five more communities, some of them more than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the plant, were urged to evacuate within a month because of high levels of radiation. People living in a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius around the plant already have been evacuated.

"This is not an emergency measure that people have to evacuate immediately," he said. "We have decided this measure based on long-term health risks."

Edano sounded a grave note, acknowledging that "the nuclear accident has not stabilized" and that "we cannot deny the possibility the situation could get worse."

The latest quake, the second major aftershock in less than a week, spooked people yet again in a disaster-weary northeastern Japan. Customers in a large electronics store in Sendai screamed and ran outside and mothers grabbed their children, but there were no immediate reports of more damage or injuries.

Japanese officials said the quake was a 7.0 magnitude, but the U.S. Geological Survey said it measured magnitude 6.6.

With workers still far from bringing the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant under control, the bodies of thousands of tsunami victims yet to be found and more than 150,000 people living in shelters, there was little time Monday for reflection on Japan's worst disaster since World War II.

People in hard-hit towns gathered for ceremonies at 2:46 p.m., the exact moment of the massive quake a month earlier.

"My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused the people of our prefecture," said Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima, which saw its coastal areas devastated by the tsunami and is home to the damaged plant at the center of the nuclear crisis. "I have no words to express my sorrow."

In a devastated coastal neighborhood in the city of Natori, three dozen firemen and soldiers removed their hats and helmets and joined hands atop a small hill that has become a memorial for the dead. Earlier, four monks in pointed hats rang a prayer bell there as they chanted for those killed.

The noisy clatter of construction equipment ceased briefly as crane operators stood outside their vehicles and bowed their heads.

In the industrial town of Kamaishi, Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso led a moment of commemoration as a loud siren rang through a high school gymnasium being used as a shelter. He bowed while people who have lived there since the tsunami kneeled on makeshift futons, bowed their heads and clasped their hands.

The school's students will return to classes Tuesday even though 129 people are living in their gym. Some, like 16-year-old Keisuke Shirato, wore their baseball uniforms for Monday's ceremony. Shirato's family was not affected by the tsunami, but about half of his teammates lost their homes.

"A new school year starts tomorrow," Shirato said. "Hopefully that will help give people hope and allow them to look toward a new start."

The earthquake and tsunami flattened communities along hundreds of miles (kilometers) of coastline, causing what the government estimates could be as much as $310 billion in damage. About 250,000 are without electricity, although some of them because of the latest two quakes Monday and last Thursday.

Adding to the misery is radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. The 70,000 to 80,000 people who lived within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the plant must stay away from their homes indefinitely.

"We have no future plans. We can't even start to think about it because we don't know how long this will last or how long we will have to stay in these shelters," said Atsushi Yanai, a 55-year-old construction worker. The tsunami spared his home, but he has to live in a shelter anyway because it is in the evacuation zone.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its president, Masataka Shimizu, went to Fukushima prefecture Monday to relay his gratitude and apologies. Shimizu recently spent eight days in the hospital with dizziness and high blood pressure, but has since returned to work.

Shimizu told reporters in Fukushima that people who live near the plant are "suffering physically and mentally due to the nuclear radiation leak accident,"

"We sincerely apologize for this," he said.

At TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo, hundreds of employees bowed their heads for a moment of silence at 2:46.

Japan's government marked the one-month period by putting an ad in newspapers in China, South Korea, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States — a letter from Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanking people for the outpouring of support that followed the tsunami. The Red Cross alone said it has collected $107 million (9.1 billion yen) from overseas.

Kan described the outpouring as "kizuna," the bond of friendship.

"We deeply appreciate the kizuna our friends from around the world have shown and I want to thank every nation, entity, and you personally, from the bottom of my heart."

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Talmadge reported from Fukushima. Associated Press Writers Tomoko Hosaka in Kamaishi and Shino Yuasa, Mari Yamaguchi and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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