The ministry urged Croatian citizens with non-essential roles in Japan to consider leaving, the statement said. The Croatian ministry added that those who plan to stay in Japan should move to the southern part of the country and monitor reports released by the Japanese agencies on a daily basis, as well as all information released on the Croatian Embassy's website.

Croatia has also recommended that citizens postpone any journeys to Japan. It has advised Croatian citizens currently in Japan not to travel to the areas affected by the disaster and to remain in contact with the embassy in Tokyo for further notice.

After a disastrous earthquake on Friday, Japan was hit by a tsunami. Several thousand people were killed and the safety of Japanese nuclear power plants has been jeopardised.

Areas of Tokyo usually packed with office workers were eerily quiet, as people fear radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant. Japanese authorities struggled to avert disaster at the earthquake-battered nuclear complex 240 km to the north.

Many schools were closed. Companies allowed workers to stay home. Long queues formed at airports.

Multinational companies started evacuating their international staff after low radiation was recorded in Tokyo and its surrounding.

At its worst, radiation in Tokyo reached 0.809 microsieverts per hour on Tuesday after a hydrogen explosion at the plant. That's 10 times below what a person would receive if exposed to a dental x-ray for an entire hour.

And for the day, radiation averaged just 0.109 mircosieverts - barely above average.

Tens of thousands of people are still missing since Friday's quake and tsunami. About 850,000 households in the north are without electricity in near-freezing weather. Death toll is expected to exceed 11,000.