Tokyo residents flee the city

 Many Tokyo residents are fleeing the city and heading south, while others are hoarding supplies and lining up for hours for gas amid fears that radiation from the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant will reach the city.

Residents have so far been told that radiation of 10 times the normal level has been detected in Tokyo, 240 kilometres south of the plant, but levels are still safe and there is no reason to panic.

But the reassurances haven't stopped tourists and residents from fleeing the capital, said freelance journalist Chris Johnson.