German Embassy in Japan Moved to Osaka

German embassy in Japan would be moved to the southern city of Osaka temporarily, as the capital Tokyo is being threatened by radiation from damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The German Ambassador to Japan and his staff will continue their duties in Osaka, 600 kilometers southwest of the quake- crippled Fukushima nuclear power station. Germans can contact the team in Osaka if they need help or want to leave Japan, the ministry said.

The ministry added that the move was a precautionary measure amid escalating Japan nuclear crisis, while some embassy offices in Tokyo is not to be completely closed, the ministry added.

The announcement came one day after the ministry advised its citizens to leave Tokyo's metropolitan area and other northern regions of Japan for safety reasons.

Since Saturday, several explosions and fires rocked the nuclear reactors in Fukushima plant, pushing radiation near the area to harmful levels. Higher-than-normal level of radiation was also detected in the densely-populated Tokyo, which is about 250 kilometers away from the plant.

The Japanese government has set up a 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the nuclear plant and asked people living in 10 kilometers beyond zone to stay indoors

On Thursday, emergency workers are using water cannons, heavy- duty firetrucks and helicopters to cool nuclear fuel rods, hoping to prevent more radiation from leaking and spreading. Until nightfall, it remained unknown whether the attempts worked.