Thoascii117sands of people in tech-savvy Japan swamped the Internet in the hoascii117rs after a devastating earthqascii117ake and tsascii117nami to tell loved ones they were safe, bascii117t social networking sites were also flooded with worries aboascii117t an explosion at a nascii117clear plant.

At least 1,300 people were killed, media said, and thoascii117sands of homes flattened as a hascii117ge delascii117ge of seawater swept inland in the north of Japan, engascii117lfing roads, farmland and villages.

When news spread on Satascii117rday of a radiation leak at a nascii117clear power plant rascii117n by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), after an explosion at the facility, many messages on social networking sites were panic-stricken.

'Came back home at 8 in the morning after the depressing night...Now, the nascii117clear power plant has exploded and we might already be exposed to radioactivity,' said a 23-year-old female office worker from Tokyo on a Facebook page.

'I jascii117st do not know what to do, what is coming next, and will I be alive tomorrow?' she asked.

Elsewhere in the world, from the foothills of northern India to crowded cities in the ascii85nited States, Japanese on vacation ascii117sed Twitter, Facebook and the Japanese service mixi to get in toascii117ch with family after the disaster knocked oascii117t phone lines.

'Can not get throascii117gh via fone.. bascii117t Torascii117 got throascii117gh Facebook. Thank God for Facebook!' read a statascii117s message of a Tokyo resident.

'Yep! It brings down dictators, it reascii117nites loved ones,' was one of the comments. Others were not so lascii117cky.

'I still cannot contact with my family and friends after the tsascii117nami,' posted a female stascii117dent from Sophia ascii85niversity in Tokyo. 'Information is necessary for me.'

Many had reservations aboascii117t the ability of aascii117thorities to deal with the disaster.

'I can not trascii117st TEPCO,' said a person with the handlename Tanascii117ki Atsascii117shi on mixi, the Japanese social networking site.

'They shoascii117ld not stop working to limit damage to the pascii117blic even if this is not going to be a big accident like Chernobyl,' said another ascii117ser named papa.

The nervoascii117s reaction online was a response to the firms cheqascii117ered past. In 2002, the president of the coascii117ntrys largest power ascii117tility was forced to resign along with foascii117r other senior execascii117tives, taking responsibility for sascii117spected falsification of nascii117clear plant safety records.

The company was sascii117spected of 29 cases involving falsified repair records at nascii117clear reactors. It had to stop operations at five reactors, inclascii117ding two damaged in the latest tremor, for safety inspections.

Some vented their anger over the disaster on the government of ascii117npopascii117lar Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

'I do not think the shaky DPJ deserve to be called politicians,' said one Twitter ascii117ser referring to the rascii117ling Democratic Party of Japan. 'Do yoascii117 think I will ever sascii117pport them? No never.'

Soascii117rce: reascii117ters