A 7.1 earthquake is wrongly considered an aftershock by the minimalist USA media.

A 7.1 anything can't be an aftershock.  Aftershocks have their toll as well as they further rattle apart any and all infrastructure.

I find it rather hideous to consider a 7.1 earthquake an aftershock.  Aftershocks are considered more benign than the original quake, that is not the case here.  It may be that the progress made with the nuclear reactors could be lost at this point.  The Japanese really need to consider terminal status for those reactors.  The earthquake zone is too dangerous to continue this form of energy.