A total of 80 Mexicans on Friday returned to Mexico from Japan, fleeing the threat of exposure to radiation following the damage caused to Japan's nuclear power plants in the wake of last week's 9-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

The Mexicans arrived in Mexico from Japan at 6:15 a.m. local time (1215 GMT), Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Mexicans were just a small number of the Mexicans living in Japan. The rest of the Mexican nationals decided to stay on in Japan for a variety of personal reasons, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Argentine government announced on Friday it will send a plane to Japan to bring home those citizens who want to return.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "the Argentine government has decided to launch the phase two of the contingence plan to assist the Argentines and their families in Japan."

"Once we finish the coordination with the Japanese government and we confirm the Argentines and their families who want to be repatriated, we are going to send a plane, paid for by the Argentine government, departing from Tokyo to Buenos Aires," it said.

According to official figures there are 1,200 Argentines living in Tokyo, Japan's capital and 3,500 more in the southern area, far from the zone affected by the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear crisis.