Earthquakes in Tokyo: alerts and a kit for Aussies

Your phone will scream before the floor moves. The trick is knowing what to do in the next ten seconds, and the next three days.

The short version

Japan has a constant risk of earthquakes and tsunamis, and Smartraveller says so plainly [1]. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's own guide cites a 70% chance of an earthquake striking directly under Tokyo within 30 years [2].
Your phone gets Earthquake Early Warnings and J-Alert messages automatically. Install the free, government-backed Safety Tips app for alerts in English [3][4].
Tokyo tells households to stockpile enough to live at home without help for at least a week [2].
Know your ward's evacuation area (a big park, for fire) and evacuation centre (usually a local school, if your home is unsafe). They're different places [2][5].
Buildings approved before 1 June 1981 were built to an older seismic code. Ask about the building's age before you sign a lease [2].

How the alerts work

Australia's emergency alerts mostly arrive with hours of warning: a fire front, a rising river. Earthquake alerts in Japan arrive with seconds.

Earthquake Early Warning

The Japan Meteorological Agency runs the Earthquake Early Warning (kinkyū jishin sokuhō), which it describes as an alert issued just as an earthquake starts, giving you valuable seconds before strong shaking arrives [6]. It goes out on TV and radio and to mobile phones. If you're close to the epicentre, the shaking may arrive with the alarm or before it. That's normal, not a failure.

J-Alert

J-Alert is Japan's National Instant Warning System. National agencies push alerts through municipal loudspeakers, disaster radio and emergency messages to mobile phones. It covers tsunami warnings, earthquake early warnings and ballistic missile information: situations where there's no time to spare [7]. Don't panic if you hear the outdoor speakers during a scheduled test.

The apps worth installing

App or service	Who runs it	What it gives you
Safety Tips	Developed for the Japan Tourism Agency	Free push alerts in English and other languages: earthquake early warnings, tsunami, volcanic and weather warnings, heatstroke alerts and civil protection (missile) messages [3][4]
NHK app	NHK, Japan's public broadcaster	Emergency notifications that can be set to English, plus news [1]
Tokyo Bousai app	Tokyo Metropolitan Government	Local preparedness guide, checklists and evacuation information [8]
Tokyo disaster prevention map	Tokyo Metropolitan Government	Map of evacuation facilities and support stations for people walking home [5]

Your Australian SIM roaming in Japan may not receive the Japanese cell broadcast alerts. A Japanese SIM or eSIM plus Safety Tips covers you either way. Our guide to phone and internet in Tokyo covers getting a local number.

What to do when the shaking starts

The advice in Japan is "drop, cover and hold", not "run outside". Tokyo's guide says to get under a sturdy table or somewhere you're protected from falling objects, wait for the shaking to stop, then deal with fire sources and open a door so you have a way out [2]. Doors and window frames can jam as a building flexes.

Protect your head. Under a table, or crouched away from windows, shelves and the fridge.
Don't dash outside. Falling glass, tiles and signs injure more people than the building does.
After it stops, turn off gas and heaters, and open the front door.
Check the alerts. If there's a tsunami warning and you're near the bay, head to higher ground or a tall reinforced building straight away.
Stay home if it's safe. Tokyo asks residents whose homes are undamaged to stay put rather than fill up evacuation centres [2].
If you're at work or out, don't rush to walk home. Tokyo's plan for stranded commuters asks people not to start moving straight after a big quake, so roads stay clear for emergency services [8].

Tsunami and the bay

Most of Tokyo isn't on the open coast, but the wards around Tokyo Bay, including parts of Koto, Minato, Chuo, Shinagawa, Ota and Edogawa, have low-lying land and rivers. If you live near the water, check your ward's hazard map for flood and tsunami zones, and find the nearest tall, solid building you could climb, not just the nearest park. Living on the reclaimed islands of Daiba, Aomi or Ariake? The Tokyo port bureau publishes an English disaster guide for that area, listing its temporary shelters and a water supply station [9].

Evacuation sites: know the three kinds

Australians tend to think of one "evacuation centre". Tokyo has several types of site, and mixing them up wastes time [2][5].

Type	What it is	When you go
Temporary evacuation area	A school ground or neighbourhood park	Gather briefly and check what's happening
Evacuation area	A large open space, such as a big park	To escape spreading fire
Evacuation centre	A primary or junior high school or community centre	If your home is too damaged to live in
Temporary stay facility	A Tokyo Metropolitan Government facility	If you're stranded away from home
Disaster support station	Convenience stores, family restaurants, petrol stations with a sticker	Water, toilets and information on the walk home

Fire is the big risk in older, densely built wooden neighbourhoods, which is why wide parks matter so much. Each ward publishes its hazard map and site list, usually machine-translated into English. Shinagawa, for example, hands foreign residents a list of multilingual disaster websites, from the ward's own emergency page to the Tokyo Fire Department [10]. Look yours up on the ward website the week you move in, and walk the route once. It's a ten-minute job most people never do.

Your home kit and the one-week rule

The Tokyo guide asks households to keep enough supplies to live without relying on anyone for at least a week until relief arrives [2]. Its model family of four keeps a dozen two-litre bottles of water on hand just for everyday rotation [2]. Bigger than a bushfire go-bag, because the plan is to stay home, not leave.

The easy method is "rolling stock" (rōringu sutokku): buy a bit extra of what you already eat, use the oldest first and top up. Every supermarket and ¥100 shop sells kit, and big-box stores have disaster aisles around 1 September, Japan's Disaster Prevention Day.

Stay-at-home stockpile:

Water for drinking and cooking for every person, for a week
Rice, instant noodles, tinned food, crackers, and something to cook with (a portable gas burner and spare canisters)
Portable toilet bags. Sewers can fail even when the building is fine
Torch, headlamp, spare batteries and a battery or wind-up radio [2]
Power bank, wet wipes, rubbish bags, cling wrap (so you don't have to wash plates)
A week of any prescription medication. If yours came from Australia, see our guide to bringing medication into Japan
Pet food and a carrier, if you have one

Grab bag by the door: a hard hat or foldable helmet, gloves, shoes, a copy of your passport and residence card, cash in small notes, and a written list of phone numbers. Your phone may be flat when you need it.

Fix the furniture

Tokyo calls securing furniture to the wall the most basic step there is, using L-brackets and screws or tension poles with anti-slip pads [2]. Renters often worry about screw holes. Tension poles and adhesive mats don't damage walls, and your agent can tell you what the landlord allows. Keep heavy things low, and don't put a tall bookcase where it could fall across your bed or the door.

Choosing a safer building

Japan's building code was overhauled for earthquake resistance, with the new standard taking effect on 1 June 1981. Tokyo's guide says buildings constructed before then have lower safety against a major earthquake [2]. Listings show the year built (chikunensū), so check it. A newer building isn't a guarantee, but it's the single easiest filter you have.

Ask the agent whether a pre-1981 building has had a seismic assessment or retrofit, how many floors it has, and whether there's an emergency stair. Our guide to renting in Tokyo explains the rest of the lease.

The Australian side: who helps you

Australia has no role in Japan's rescue system. Japanese emergency services and your ward run the response. Here's what Australia does do.

Smartraveller. Subscribe to the Japan travel advice. After a major event it updates the advice and posts how to contact the Australian Government [1].
The Australian Embassy in Tokyo is at 2-1-14 Mita, Minato-ku. Phone +81 3 5232 4111, or email consular.tokyo@dfat.gov.au [1].
24-hour Consular Emergency Centre: +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas [1].
Insurance. There's no agreement between Australia and Japan for free healthcare [1]. Check your Japanese health insurance and your contents insurance. Ask whether your policy covers earthquake damage; don't assume it does.

Telling your family you're OK

Phone lines jam after a big quake. Japanese carriers run disaster message services: Tokyo's guide tells residents to use the disaster message services provided by phone companies [2]. NTT's Disaster Emergency Message Dial is 171. Messages and data usually get through when calls don't, so agree with family at home on one place to check, such as a family group chat, and one person in Australia who passes the news on.

Want to know what other Aussies keep in their kit, or which buildings in your area have a good track record? Ask in Cooee Japan, our Facebook group for Australians in Japan. Members swap notes every time there's a decent shake.

Earthquakes in Tokyo: the alerts, the kit and the plan Australians never needed at home