Unalaska, AK – Japan continues to reel from the destruction caused by Friday's earthquake and tsunami, and now, the country is handling a nuclear crisis caused by explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. A third - and more severe -- explosion occurred this morning, and now the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is keeping an eye on that situation to make sure there is no potential effect on Alaska.

"There is no immediate or anticipated threat of radiation exposure here in Alaska," says Jeremy Zidek, a public information officer with the division.

The division has been holding teleconferences with Alaska's community leaders and working with both the state and federal governments to come up with a plan should nuclear fallout be a cause for concern. Zidek says that information would be distributed through the emergency alert system, local media, and community managers in the event of a threat - the same procedures used in the event of a natural disaster.

Because of the jet stream, there is some worry that some of the radioactive materials from a meltdown could be transferred to Alaska should measures to contain nuclear waste and materials fail. Maps showing the Aleutian Chain and Coastal Alaska covered a radioactive cloud have been circulating on the Internet, but Zidek says not to place stock in these materials.

"To develop any type of map, there would have to be a lot of speculation involved on what the reactor is going to do, what material is going to be released, and how severe it's going to be," says Zidek. "And at this point in time, it's just too early to tell."

Zidek says that the state's Department of Public Health is also in communication with the Division of Homeland Security and would be able to provide anti-radiation treatments like potassium iodide to affected communities in the event of a serious nuclear disaster in Japan. However, Zidek cautions against using these treatments now, since they can have harmful side effects and are unnecessary at this point in time.

"It's unclear that - even if there was a release - it would have any negative health consequences here in Alaska," says Zidek.

While Zidek says panic over nuclear fallout is unwarranted, he says that Alaskans should remain vigilant for other reasons.

"While the threat of radiation exposure here in Alaska is non-existent at this time, the threat of earthquakes and tsunamis still remain very real," says Zidek.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami on Friday have so far caused thousands of deaths in Japan. The waves from the tsunami caused no damage or injuries in Unalaska.