Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.
The scientist says that while the complete core meltdown at Chernobyl was a major disaster, it had fall far short of catastrophe many nuclear power critics had feared, the so-called ‘China Syndrome’.

A

it fell far short of the catastrophe

B

it fell far away of the catastrophe

C

it fell much short of the catastrophe

D

it fell far shorter of the catastrophe