The Japanese government just raised the level of the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi to 7.  That is the same level as Chernobyl.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency made the decision to raise it to the worst condition, under the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, because of the extremely high levels of radiation that is being spewed.  Also, it is based on the size of the area that is being contaminated, and the threat to life.

At one point Fukushima Daiichi was emitting up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour!