The following information from the “Surviving in Japan” blog is being posted here for your convenience. As we look back on the dark, uncertain days on and immediately after 3/11, it is worthwhile to review our emergency preparedness to keep complacency from setting in.
Important Information and Communication Tools
1. Yurekuru Call is an app available for iPhone and Android that sends you a warning if an earthquake might occur in your registered location, which is part of the nationwide early warning system. Many Japanese telephones have this function already built into the phone, so it’s worth asking your mobile company about this if you decide not to go for a smartphone.
2. The Disaster Emergency Message Dial (171) is a voice message board for communication when a disaster such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption occurs and telephone traffic to the disaster-stricken area increases making it difficult to transmit calls. By entering your landline phone number as a pin code, you can leave a message on the system where other family members who share the same landline number can listen to your message and record theirs as well.
See this link for a helpful animation explaining how the system works. The system prompts are all in Japanese, but if you follow the steps you can still use this valuable tool even if you don’t understand Japanese. You can access the 171 system on the first and 15th of each month to practice.
3. NHK television (Channel 1) is the best place to get fast, reliable, visual information on the location of an earthquake and whether a tsunami warning is in effect. Under the Broadcast Act, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is obligated to broadcast early warning emergency reporting when natural disasters strike. NHK is able to source information from the Japan Meteorological Agency’s national network of seismometers and deliver information about the quake almost instantly. NHK World broadcasts in 18 different languages, so you can also seek information there, though it will not come through as quickly. You can access NHK World online here.
4. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website is bilingual and has lots of information about earthquakes, tsunami warnings and typhoons, among other useful information.
5. English-speaking radio broadcast frequencies include Inter FM (76.1FM Tokyo, 76.5FM Yokohama), Eagle (810AM) and the bilingual format of NHK (693AM).
