Japan earthquake tsunami dead and missing now over 27,000

As Japan's cleanup efforts begin, the number of people found dead and declared missing has reached staggering proportions. The latest count is more than 27,000: 10,000 dead and more than 17,400 remain missing, according to Al Jeezera.Furthmore, on Friday, Japanese officials admitted that radioactive contamination may reach potentially catastrophic levels, due to a breech in the core of reactor #3 at the Fukushima power plant.In addition to the mounting death toll from the worst earthquake in Japan's history, radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached the food supply and drinking water.

"Contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting the reactor's core," Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told CNN.The radiation leak may cause the death toll to rise further, as the deadly nuclear material infiltrates the environment.On March 11, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan. It was the fourth worst in recorded history, and the worst ever to hit Japan.