check your sunday paper for a $4 coupon. . . tonight on "nightline," nuclear emergency. a massive new explosion rocks a crippled reactor plant in japan prompting the greatest fears yet for radiation catastrophe and new wave of evacuations. falloutle risk. how dangerous leaks can be, a plant located on a seismic fault now a smoldering disaster zone. and japan's ground zero. we'll take you on a journey to the only working hospital near the epicenter where the agonizing search for survivors leads to both disappointments and joyous relief on the front lines of an historic tragedy a special edition of "nightline," "inside japan" starts right now.

good evening from an absolutely miserable northeast japan. this is sendai. who knows where this house started before the quake, but there it is jammed against the gas station even more grim when you look in the back window and see the baby crib but as bad as all of this is, it's just the tip of the pending looming disaster unfolding right now. already four different nuclear reactors have exploded, caught fire in this country and evacuations have intensified within recent hours. in fact, about 50 miles south of here was the most urgent catastrophe. our own david muir was much closer than we are, about 20 miles from that reactor when it blew and abc wisely ordered him to get out of there as fast as he could and he filed this report just before he left.

>> reporter: tonight yap is dealing with yet another explosion at a nuclear reactor, the third one at the fukushima power plant and there are signs tonight that this could be their most dangerous explosion yet. this is the third explosion to rock the fukushima nuclear power plant and comes as japan's government finds itself in a race to avoid a catastrophic meltdown. in the first two explosions the cause was a buildup of hydrogen, sending the outer walls crumbling. this time it didn't blow off why there is more concern. it is feared the pressure that drove this explosion might have cautioned a crack in the base of the nuclear reactor in which case radioactive material could be leaking. this is the first time they had the local nuclear plant workers in the safe area and tonight an urgent tweet from the spokesman from the japanese prime minister. if you're in fukushima, please do not try to physically approach unit 2 of fukushima daiichi for media coverage or other purposes" which is why we are moving west.

in cukirama, the grandparents, parents and children may be exposed to radiation. they live in the shadow of those reactors and escaped here. so many here they were contaminated. she tells us she was in the town very close to the plant. they tested her grandmother too. and they tested your grandmother too? >> yes. >> reporter: your grandmother is okay? >> she's okay. >> reporter: everyone? >> everyone. >> reporter: this driver has been racing the evacuate sack whiches from the towns showing his clothing and taking it off to be tested. yes, he tells us, i've been busing them. and then we notice the crowded tent. medical teams in hazmat uniforms use geiger counters and handheld scanners to check everyone especially the most vulnerable, the children. this little girl stands still as

they scan her hair before asking her to turn around. mothers hold on to their babies and this little girl touches her winnie the pooh. winnie the pooh. but everyone is okay? the family tells me they were given the all clear but the mother admits it's like living through hell, she says. authorities fold me more than 100 people have tested positive of radiation and taken to the hospital. we were given exclusive access to the command center. you have been very busy. have you been business ji? he is one of the directors, working with families who lost homes in the earthquake. i can see you're all watching the monitor right here. there's been three explosions revealing a decimated nuclear power plant. after the tsunami's force blew out the cooling systems and each of the reactors. at the command center they

frantically answer the phones. down here? they show me where many of the families escaped harm will now sleep tonight. konnichiwa. we say hello to the mother and children. the children are still smiling but we learned that being here has sheltered the mother from the bad news. when you hear about the explosions -- we tell her of yet another explosion, her face goes blank, stunned but safe tonight along with 200,000 evacuees and counting. the japanese government has distributed more than 200,000 iodine tablets meant to help stave off any effects of radiation. initially thought to be just a precaution, but now they're dealing with this third explosion at a nuclear plant. and tonight as our crew here moves west to get further away from those plants we carry with us these small sensors that detect any changes in the air and so far our grid has not changed so that, of course, is a

propsing sign here. i'm david muir for "nightline" in japan. >> they have widened the evacuation area to 20 miles around he wants everybody to stay indoors. our thanks to david muir and when we come back, we will take you to the one place that had all of our crew in tears today right near the epicenter, the search for survivors leads to incredible disappointment and in times resounding joy. today, investors want retirement planning on their terms. i want to work with people who are objective. how about a plan with my name on it... not someone else's. can we start with realistic goals please? and research that's strictly third party. show me how to keep more retirement money in my pocket.

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welcome back to japan. it is just after noon here on tuesday and it is bitterly cold, a very damp cold adding to the misery of the search and rescue teams looking for bodies just behind us here. i actually touched down in tokyo last night, and pinned on my radiation detector, took our iodine pills and started heading north. what was so striking it went from japan's legendary order that regimented clean structure into chaos like this. we were prepared for these scenes but had no idea the emotion we would find along the way. it is a seven-hour drive from tokyo to the epicenter and for most of it the only indications of the horror ahead come from the japanese newscast on our bus tv and the occasional convoy of rescue teams headed north. after driving through most of the night we're now about an hour and a half outside of sendai, the epicenter, starting to see the japanese equivalent of the national guard staging here and as we were all sleeping on the way up one of our young

translators had a nightmare about the radiation and just announced she wants to go home. we stay 50 miles wide of the imperilled fukushima reactor and press on into the night until at last we see it, massive sculptures of pure destruks looming into the headlights. gnarled treelights let us know we reached sendai. the smell, it's the briny smell of the sea that hits you the minute you walk out but if this is just a hint of what's ahead, it's already pretty devastating. there is not a single sign of life until a bewildered horse appears in the high beams and calmly watches us pass. a shattered house is the first of countless road blocks so we turn back and find the stop lights blinking red and green in this apocalyptic hellscape, the first sign of power in days so locals line up hoping to buy precious fuel. without it they'll have no way to flee another quake or tsunami

or heaven forbid a radioactive cloud and after hours of peering in the shadows it reveals a giant muddy stew where sendai's airport once stood. i'm afraid to look inside these cars for fear that the drivers might actually be inside. maybe it's because japan is such an orderly nation in the best of times that this is such a stunning contrast to get someone's child's mattress over there, here's a mailbox, next to a completely shattered airplane and this isn't even the worst of it. every passing day brings more images of the tsunami's wrath like this stunning new video of the crushing wave taking out the entire town of minamisanriku about 50 miles away from our location. 10,000 people more than half the population are feared dead. and there are gruesome reports

that crematorium which can only handle 18 bodies a day is completely overwhelmed. and everywhere you go the ongoing exhausting search for loved ones. this man has been searching for his wife the only way he can, riding his bicycle with her name on a paper sign. >> translator: i managed to survive but my daughter was washed away. i don't know what to say. i hope my daughter is still alive somewhere. >> reporter: this couple owns a karaoke bar washed out to sea and he is now searching for his parents. >> translator: i want to find them. i want to find them. >> reporter: we push on to ishinomaki find the only working hospital for mile, a steady stream of wounded arrive by air,

by ground and fill nearly every square foot of the floor space inside but i got to tell you none of the physical destruction we've seen packs the same wallop as what's going on inside this tent. there's our list of names here, all people who have been treated at this hospital and waiting patiently outside is this heartbreaking line of humanity, every one of these people has lost a loved one and hoping against hope they'll get inside, read their name and know that they're still alive. every few minutes is filled with either disappointment or pure joyful relief. since the quake these two sisters spent every day and every drop of gas hunting for each other. you just found each other here just now? they came here alone and desperate. they leave together. and then there is elsa tanabi, six relatives in america and wants her sister to know she's okay. this message is for alana. this is bill weir with abc news. i'm actually in northern japan

and i just saw your sister elsa and she's okay and she wanted you to know that and that she loves you. hope you get this message. unfortunately, those moments of hope are all too few and far between. we come back, we'll take you even into a worst hit area if you can believe that, find more stories of courage among the most isolated survivors when "nightline" returns. even though i'm a great driver, and he's... not so much. well, for a driver like you, i would recommend our new snapshot discount. this little baby keeps track of your great driving habits, so you can save money. [sighs] amazing. it's like an extra bonus savings. [ cackling ] he's my ride home. how much can the snapshot discount save you? call or click today. [music playing] confidence available in color.

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good night. ♪ [ onstar ] good evening. what would you like to do? facebook news feed. first post. jennifer french... best first date. ever. [ male announcer ] the all-new chevy cruze. with real-time facebook status updates. when the good news just can't wait. quake and still no telling how high the body count will rise. to get a sense of why my colleague clarissa ward braved into some of the remote and hardest hit regions of this disaster. >> reporter: so it's early morning here and we're continuing our push up to the north, but it is incredibly

difficult because so many of these roads are blocked off and you have to approach them on foot and actually you can see a perfect example why here. the road has literally collapsed and almost entirely swallowed up this car. with all the aftershocks our translator is scared to join us on our drive up north. we are armed only with a few japanese phrases. [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: where were you when the tsunami hit. i was here, she said. it came and washed everything away. along this stretch of coast there is almost no power and no little food or water. what there is is devastation. memories of a home consigned to rubble, a pair of shoes, family photos, a child's drawing, a beautiful young girl. we talked to a neighbor and found out the devastating tragedy about the family next door. "my friends died" she tells me "so many people i know died." now the ocean is actually just

under a mile in that direction but looking behind me you would never imagine that because huge swaths of this town are still completely submerged underwater and, of course, it's impossible to know just how many people died here until that water recedes. thousands of homeless are flooding into shelters. there are about 400 people living now in this high school gymnasium. many of them have lost absolutely everything and they're living under very rudimentary conditions. they're sleeping on the floor and food is very limited. what volunteers are bringing them on average a day is one ball of rice, a little bit of soup and some water. it's enough for now but many of these people just have no idea when they'll be able to return home. this 81-year-old man grabbed on to a floating log before rescuing his wife. he went up on to the roof and waited 15 hours before a helicopter rescued us, he told me. this message board is filled with notices of people who are

desperately trying to locate their friends and their family and you can see how many names, how many messages, how many desperate people there are, one woman inside told us that last night it was impossible to sleep here because a boy was crying all night where's my daddy, where's my daddy? they comfort each other and share their harrowing experiences. learning to cope one day at a time. for "nightline," i'm clarissa ward in ishinomaki. >> our thanks and safe travels to clarissa ward for that. now let's pivot to the grim task of search, recovery and rescue. and after that, trying to get food and water to all the refugees. christiane amanpour now with a look at the humanitarian effort. >> reporter: in the face of a nightmare scenario, even one of the world's most modern countries simply cannot mobilize fast enough against an ever-mounting series of crises. especially in the north, even the basics, food, water,

electricity are in short supply. the red cross here has opened a 24-hour command center which can barely keep up. the biggest challenge, logistics. along the coast much of the basic infrastructure has been crippled. moving supplies on land or by air is severely hampered as we saw when we toured the devastation by helicopter. the red cross director showed us the worst hit areas sendai closest to the earthquake epicenter. what is the biggest need right now? >> for the moment it would be search and rescue. for the next few days and then next comes distribution of water and food and toilets for the next one, two weeks and then, well, the collection of dead bodies. >> reporter: japan does not have an army, a legacy of its world war ii history.

what it does have is a self-defense force which is now facing its biggest ever deployment, 100,000 people trying to reach any survivors, paddling through what remains of coastal villages in small row boats. but the damage stretches along hundreds of miles of coastline and the tsunami not only wiped away families and home, it also swept off many of those who would have responded. entire villages have been left with no local government and no way of getting information back to the central government, the prime minister's office. >> we do not know exactly the extent of damage. it is really difficult to identify the number of death and casualties. we are continuing utmost efforts, but we may be losing some of the small villages. >> thanks to christiane amanpour and thank you for watching abc news. we hope you'll wat