Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has appealed to the Japanese to unite in overcoming what he says is the nation's worst crisis since World War II.

Kan said March 13 in a television address that the nation's future will be decided by the choices made by each Japanese and urged all to join in their determination to rebuild the nation following a massive earthquake and tsunami.

According to The Associated Press, estimates of the death toll from the disaster rose to more than 10,000 in one state alone, as millions of survivors remained without drinking water, electricity and proper food along the pulverized northeastern coast.’