If an earthquake strikes | Japan is Nippon

First, do this

If you feel shaking or an Earthquake Early Warning goes off, protect your head first and move away from large furniture and windows.
Don't rush outside; in shops and stations, follow the staff's instructions.
If you are near the sea and feel strong or long shaking, get to high ground at once without waiting for a warning.
When the shaking stops, don't leave a safe place without good reason, and keep away from crowded places such as stations.
Check for accurate information on TV, radio or official apps.

While it is shaking: how to protect yourself, wherever you are

When you feel an earthquake, or see or hear an Earthquake Early Warning, stay calm and make yourself safe first. An Earthquake Early Warning is an alert sent to TVs, smartphones and so on a few seconds to a few tens of seconds before strong shaking arrives. Close to the epicentre, the warning may not arrive before the shaking does.

Indoors, protect your head, move away from large furniture and take cover under something sturdy such as a solid table. Don't rush outside. If you are using fire (a gas hob, for example), turn it off if you can do so where you are; if you are away from it, don't try to go back and turn it off. Open a door to keep an escape route.

In department stores and other crowded places, follow the staff's instructions. If there are none, protect your head where you are and move away from hanging lights. Don't rush for the exits or stairs. If you are in a lift, stop it at the nearest floor and get out straight away.

Outdoors, keep away from concrete-block walls and vending machines, which can topple over. Watch out for falling pieces of building walls, signboards and broken window glass, and move away from buildings. Near mountains or cliffs, watch for falling rocks and landslides and leave the area. On a train or bus, hold on tight to a strap or handrail. If you are driving, don't brake suddenly: slow down gradually, turn on your hazard lights and stop on the left side of the road.

Once the shaking stops: don't rush to move

If you are in a big city when an earthquake hits, the basic rule is to make yourself safe and then not start moving around without good reason. On the roads, aftershocks may bring things falling down, and fires may have broken out. Around stations and other heavily crowded places, crowd crushes, where people fall over one another like dominoes, happen easily, so stay away.

The Prime Minister's Office website says that for about three days after an earthquake, fighting fires and rescue and emergency work take priority, and the confusion continues. Think first about staying somewhere safe. Even if the tracks are undamaged, safety checks take time, and trains may not run for a long while.

Phone calls become hard to get through, because everyone calls at once and equipment may be damaged. Power cuts and gas and water outages can happen, and they can take time to fix. If you are on a train, follow the crew's instructions to evacuate.

Protecting yourself from a tsunami

If you feel strong shaking, or shaking that is weak but goes on for a long time, leave the coast at once and get to the highest place you can. Even if you feel no shaking, do the same if you see or hear a Tsunami Warning or similar alert. When the epicentre is close to land, the warning may not come before the tsunami arrives.

The Japan Meteorological Agency aims to issue Major Tsunami Warnings, Tsunami Warnings and Tsunami Advisories about three minutes after an earthquake. For a huge earthquake, the first warning may describe the expected tsunami height only with the words "huge" or "high". If it says "huge", this is an emergency like the Great East Japan Earthquake: get as high as you possibly can, immediately. If you are near the sea, swimming for example, you need to get out of the water and away from the coast even for a Tsunami Advisory.

Places to evacuate to include nearby high ground, tsunami evacuation towers and tsunami evacuation buildings. Near the sea there are signs showing tsunami evacuation sites and buildings. At beaches and similar places, warnings may also be given with a "tsunami flag". If you see one, start evacuating straight away.

Tsunamis come again and again, and a later wave can be higher than the first. Even if the water pulls back once, and even after the expected arrival time has passed, keep evacuating and don't go back to the coast until the Tsunami Warning or Advisory is lifted.

"Evacuation site" versus "evacuation shelter"

Japan has two very similar terms. A "designated emergency evacuation site" is a place you flee to urgently to save your life from a disaster, and cities, towns and villages designate them separately for each type of disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and large fires. A "designated evacuation shelter" is a facility where people who can no longer return home, among others, stay for a period of time. One facility can serve as both.

Where you should go depends on the type of disaster, for example a tsunami or a fire. It is reassuring to check the risks where you are, and where to go, on local signs or on the "Hazard Map Portal Site" run by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Getting information and staying in touch

"Safety tips", an app for foreign travellers supervised by the Japan Tourism Agency, sends push notifications for Earthquake Early Warnings, Tsunami Warnings, weather emergency warnings and more. It also has action flowcharts and communication cards, and works in 15 languages. For news in English, check NHK WORLD-JAPAN, which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day.

The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) posts disaster warnings and transport information in English on X (formerly Twitter) as "Japan Safe Travel" (@JapanSafeTravel). There is also an English website, "Japan Safe Travel Information", where you can check earthquake, tsunami and other information on a map. If you need help, you can phone the Japan Visitor Hotline, a multilingual call centre open 24 hours a day.

To let family and friends know you are safe, there is NTT's Disaster Emergency Message Dial (171). It is a voice message board that opens when calls to a disaster area become hard to get through after a major disaster. It is not available at other times.

If "Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information" is issued

Nankai Trough earthquakes are large earthquakes that have struck again and again, roughly every 100 to 150 years, in the sea area stretching from Suruga Bay to off the Hyuga-nada Sea. When the chance of a major earthquake is judged to be higher than usual, the Japan Meteorological Agency issues "Nankai Trough Earthquake Extra Information". It comes with one of four keywords: "under investigation", "megaquake warning", "megaquake advisory" and "investigation completed".

If a "megaquake warning" or "megaquake advisory" is issued, be more prepared than usual, for example by staying ready to evacuate at once. An earthquake can also strike suddenly without any extra information being issued. Off Hokkaido and the Sanriku coast, a separate "Subsequent Earthquake Advisory for off the coast of Hokkaido and Sanriku" may be issued.

Tips

Before you come to Japan, install "Safety tips", the app supervised by the Japan Tourism Agency, and turn its notifications on.
If you are staying near the sea, check the way to a tsunami evacuation building or high ground in advance.
After an earthquake, trains may stop for a while. Don't rush to the station; wait for information somewhere safe.

Sources

Checked: 29 September 2026