No one is diminishing the horrific loss of life and destruction wrought by the tsunami. Regarding the reactors, however, the true situation as I perceive it based on reading several extremely well-qualified sources, is that while extremely serious, it does not justify the constant reportorial tone of “MELTDOWN! CHERNOBYL! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” that it is getting from CNN and even Fox, among others.
Perhaps your impression of the coverage is what's overblown.
I have yet to hear "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE". Instead, the reports seem to conclude that the radiation threat to the USA is minimal.
There are several sites were you can get information from English Japanese news source. According to friends who have families in Japan 140K people have been evacuated in the area of the reactors because of possible radiation leaks. The biggest worries are the continued 6.0 and above after shocks and waiting for the follow up large after shock unusually only one point less than the original.