Snapshot - Japan's nuclear crisis

TOKYO (Reuters) - Following are main developments after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeast Japan and crippled a nuclear power station, raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation.

* Radioactivity levels are soaring in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency said on Saturday, two weeks after the nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

* Even as engineers tried to pump puddles of radioactive water from the power plant 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, the nuclear safety agency said tests on Friday showed radioactive iodine had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal in the seawater just offshore the plant.

* Officials said iodine 131 levels in seawater 30 km (19 miles) from the coastal nuclear complex were within acceptable limits established by regulations and the contamination posed little risk to aquatic life.

* The situation at the earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant in northern Japan is not getting worse but vigilance is needed, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said on Saturday.

- Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says storage of the contaminated water must be handled carefully. The agency also said there was no evidence to suggest the reactor itself had been damaged.

- Local media criticized plant operator Tokyo Electric Company and suggested work at the station should proceed carefully, avoiding haste.

- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says it is time to reassess the emergency response framework of the international nuclear power industry. Leaders agreed at a European Union summit to set the "highest standards" of nuclear safety by submitting reactors to "stress tests."

- PM Kan says the situation at the nuclear power plant was not getting worse, but is still nowhere near the point of resolution.

- Japan chief cabinet secretary says 130,000 people living in an outer circle around Fukushima should consider leaving.

- China says two Japanese travelers arriving in the country found to have very high levels of radiation.

- Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda says the government wants to have an extra budget for post-quake relief and reconstruction by the end of April.

- Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano says the government may have to reconsider an earlier plan to cut corporate tax rates.

- Estimated cost of damage from the earthquake and tsunami to top $300 billion, making it the world's costliest natural disaster. The 1995 Kobe quake cost $100 billion while Hurricane Katrina caused $81 billion in damage.

- The U.N. Atomic agency (IAEA) says Japanese scientists have found measurable concentrations of radioactive iodine-131 and caesium-137 in seawater samples taken 30 km (18 miles) from land.

- Official death toll from earthquake and tsunami exceeds 9,800, Kyodo news agency reports national police as saying. Total number of dead and missing stands at about 27,400. More than a quarter of a million people are living in shelters.