Well the level of the warning (seven) matches Chernobyl but the two are really not in the same ballpark. I think the Japanese must have let a few of the fuel rods boil down to dry which melted the cases. They probably have serious cleanup to do now, especially since at least one of the rods was plutonium. At some point they will need to send in a robot, fish out the rods, carry them some place for reprocessing, and dump millions of gallons of radioactive water into the ocean when no one is looking. The plants will be abandoned if their containment cracked.

Using seawater was kinda short sighted.

Now they have to deal with sodium (and all the other chemicals that are contained within that water).

I think all that water is going to end up in the ocean.

I know that they are dumping into the ocean...and they say it will dilute...but what is the hazard to the immediate area? ( I know NOTHING about all this).

I am surprised they did not have bigger explosions...

Hot sea water (steam) in an ionizing environment splits into hydrogen and oxygen and a bunch of other chemicals.

Hydrogen and oxygen in gaseous form in the same place is an explosion waiting for a 'spark'.