Fukushima and Chernobyl are both classed as 7s, but the amount of radiation released at Fukushima was at least an order of magnitude less than Chernobyl, with 8

Fukushima and Chernobyl are both classed as 7s, but the amount of radiation released at Fukushima was at least an order of magnitude less than Chernobyl, with 80% of that falling on the ocean. Fukushima caused half as many people as Chernobyl to evacuate. No one died as a direct result of Fukushima, as opposed to 2 immediate + 28 cleanup deaths from Chernobyl. Fukushima definitely deserves to be taken seriously, and it belongs in the same class as Chernobyl, but at the other end of that class.