核危机蔓延东京 大都市或变“鬼城” office, 东京, ghost, 核危机, 大都市

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Areas of Tokyo usually packed with office workers like sushi restaurants and noodle shops were eerily quiet. Many schools were closed. Companies allowed workers to stay home. Long queues formed at airports.
As Japanese authorities struggled to avert disaster at an earthquake-battered nuclear complex 240 km (150 miles) to the north, parts of Tokyo resembled a ghost town.
Many stocked up on food and stayed indoors or simply left, transforming one of the world's biggest and densely populated cities into a shell of its usual self.
"Look, it's like Sunday -- no cars in town," said Kazushi Arisawa, a 62-year-old taxi driver, as he waited for more than an hour outside an office tower where he usually finds customers within minutes. "I can't make money today."
Radiation in Tokyo has been negligible, briefly touching three times the normal rate Tuesday, smaller than a dental x-ray. Wednesday, winds over the Fukushima nuclear-power plant gusted out to sea, keeping levels close to normal.
But that does little to allay public anxiety about an ailing 40-year-old nuclear complex with three reactors in partial meltdown and a fourth with spent atomic fuel exposed to the atmosphere after last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
"Radiation moves faster than we do," said Steven Swanson, a 43-year-old American who moved to Tokyo in December with his Japanese wife to help with her family business.
He is staying indoors but is tempted to leave. "It's scary. It's a triple threat with the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear radiation leaks. It makes you wonder what's next."
A number of major events have been canceled, including the World Figure Skating Championships, Japan Fashion Week and the Tokyo International Anime Fair whose organizers cited "extreme circumstances."
Some foreign bankers, flush with money, are fleeing fast, some on private jets. BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley were among banks whose staff have left since Friday, according to industry sources.
Thousands of people have inundated private jet companies with requests for evacuation flights, sending prices surging.
Electronics shops are selling out of small, portable Geiger counters that measure radiation. Strawberry Linux, a Tokyo-based company, is out of stock, said its owner, Masahiro Ochiai.

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

在东京，往日挤满上班族的寿司店和面馆如今静得可怕。许多学校都关闭了。公司允许员工们待在家里。机场排起了长龙。
日本当局正在努力避免遭地震重创的核电站造成灾难，与此同时，东京的一些地区看起来就像鬼城。核爆炸发生在东京以北240公里（150英里）处。
许多人囤积食物，闭门不出，也有很多人干脆离开了东京。东京是全世界最大、人口最密集的城市之一，如今变成了一个空壳。
一位名叫有泽和司的62岁出租车司机说：“你瞧，城里没什么车，就像星期天一样。”他已经在一座办公大楼外等了一个多小时，而往常他几分钟就能拉到客人。他说：“我今天是赚不到钱了。”
周二，东京受到的核辐射比较微弱，辐射强度只是往常的三倍，比牙科X光的辐射还要弱，基本可以忽略。周三，经过福岛核电站的风吹向了大海，核辐射强度接近正常水平。
但这一消息无法缓解公众对于核辐射的焦虑情绪。这一在40年前修建的核电站已开始出现破损，有三个反应堆已出现部分核心熔毁，还有一个反应堆的废弃核燃料在上周五的地震和海啸过后被暴露在空气中。
一位名叫史蒂芬•斯旺森的43岁美国人说：“核辐射扩散的动作比我们要快。”去年12月他和他的日本妻子搬到东京居住，帮忙经营妻子的家族生意。
他现在待在家里，但是很想离开东京。“真是挺恐怖的。我们面临地震、海啸和核辐射泄漏三重威胁。真不知道接下去还要发生什么。”
许多重大活动都被取消了，包括世界花样滑冰锦标赛、日本时装周和东京国际动漫展。组织者们称这次是“极端情况”。
一些富有的外国银行家逃得很快，有些人是坐私人飞机走的。根据业内消息，在上周五地震发生后，法国巴黎银行、渣打银行和摩根史坦利等银行的员工都已经离开了东京。
成千上万的人涌向私人飞机公司预订离开东京的航班，让机票价格水涨船高。
在电子产品商店，用来测量辐射强度的小型便携式盖革计数器都已经卖光了。东京的Strawberry Linux公司的业主落合雅宏说，他公司的产品已经脱销。