TOKYO: The yen surged in Asia trade on Tuesday as Japan upgraded its nuclear emergency to a maximum seven on an international scale of atomic crises, as another aftershock rattled nerves, dealers said.
The dollar fell by more than one yen during the course of the morning, from 84.78 yen in early trade to 83.50 around noon, compared with 84.67 yen in New York late Monday.
The Japanese unit also strengthened to 120.24 against the euro from 122.10.
The yen's surge followed a Kyodo news report citing TEPCO officials saying the radiation leak from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant could eventually be greater than Chernobyl in 1986.
Japan on Tuesday raised its rating of the severity of the accident to the highest level on an international scale, equal to that of the Chernobyl disaster.
Investors took cues from a 6.2-magnitude aftershock in Japan shortly after 8:00 am (2300 GMT Monday), a senior dealer at a major Japanese trust bank said.
After the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami which killed more than 13,000 people, with around 14,500 people still missing, Japan has experienced more than 400 major aftershocks stronger than 5.0 in magnitude.
The tsunami also severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which has been releasing harmful radioactive materials.
The euro was at $1.4394 from $1.4436.
The euro also came under pressure and was tipped to fall further on profit-taking "amid a relative lack of trading cues to further accelerate yen-carry trades," Akira Hoshino, a senior dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, told Dow Jones Newswires.
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