JAPAN’S nuclear crisis has intensified as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and evacuated more than 170,000 people after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

A state of emergency has been declared at a second Japanese nuclear power plant.

Japan’s nuclear crisis has intensified as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and evacuated more than 170,000 people after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Japanese officials are struggling with a growing nuclear crisis and the threat of multiple meltdowns, two days after the country’s north-eastern coast was savaged by a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.