Thousands of people formed “a human chain” around Japan’s parliament complex yesterday to demand the government abandon nuclear power — the latest in a series of peaceful demonstrations that are on a scale not seen for decades.

Temperature readings at one of the Fukushima nuclear reactors have risen above Japan’s stringent new safety standard but there was no immediate danger, its operator said.

A major earthquake is far more likely to hit Tokyo in the next few years than the government predicts, researchers at the University of Tokyo said, warning companies and individuals to be prepared for such an event.

EMERGENCY workers frantic to regain control of Japan’s dangerously overheated nuclear complex turned to increasingly elaborate methods yesterday to cool nuclear fuel rods at risk of spraying out more radiation.