[csours]

Fukushima and Chernobyl are both classed as 7s, but the amount of radiation released at Fukushima was at least an order of magnitude less than Chernobyl, with 80% of that falling on the ocean.

Fukushima caused half as many people as Chernobyl to evacuate.

No one died as a direct result of Fukushima, as opposed to 2 immediate + 28 cleanup deaths from Chernobyl.

Fukushima definitely deserves to be taken seriously, and it belongs in the same class as Chernobyl, but at the other end of that class.

[adrianratnapala]

Another difference is that Fukushima was just one result (and by far not the worst result) of a huge natural disaster.