The number included more than 100,000 people who took refuge in the northern prefecture of Fukushima, including residents ordered to evacuate areas around two nuclear power plants.
The full scale of those left homeless was believed to be much higher, with police saying they had not received a tally from Miyagi prefecture, a hard-hit northern Japan province where hundreds of deaths have been reported.
Thousands more were trapped in buildings surrounded by swirling floodwaters in Miyagi, authorities said, after a towering wall of water generated by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake tore into homes, streets and towns.
Fears of a radiation leak prompted thousands of residents near the two nuclear plants in Fukushima to evacuate as their operator Tokyo Electric Power attempted to ease building reactor pressure by releasing radioactive steam.
The company stressed the move posed no health risks.
The 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan on Friday. More than 1,000 people are feared to be dead.(*)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
