Inquiries: Planning Subsection, Disaster Prevention Section, Tel: 5742-6695
● Evacuating When an Earthquake Strikes
When an earthquake strikes, Shinagawa City recommends that you evacuate temporarily to the nearest safe location. You should confirm your safety there as well as the relative security of your surroundings. If it is difficult to remain at your home, you should evacuate to the nearest evacuation area/site—usually a location such as the municipal elementary or junior high school—designated by your local town council, residents association, or neighborhood. Please check the Shinagawa City website (www.city.shinagawa.tokyo.jp/) to confirm the location of your designated evacuation site (Click the “災害にそなえて” under the section “もしものときは” on the top page, then click the “避難のしかた.”Alternatively, you can use the automatic translation system. The links translate as “For disaster and,” “Just In Case,” and “Way of refuge,” respectively.)
● Relaying Information
It is essential to distribute timely information concerning disasters. Shinagawa City is reinforcing the various means it has to relay such information, including the public announcement and siren system, Shinagawa City website, emergency L-shaped news ticker shown on cable TV, and public announcement receivers. When a disaster strikes, please work together with other residents based on accurate information.
● Storage of Supplies
Shinagawa City keeps a supply of about 500,000 servings of hard biscuits and instant rice on hand, and about 400,000 servings of polished rice. There is also an emergency tank containing 4,600 cubic meters of water (equal to 4.6 million liters), as well as drinking water in plastic PET bottles in storage.
・Supplies at Home
There is no need to evacuate if your neighborhood is untouched by fire, your house is intact, and you are able to live there. It is a good idea to keep at least a three-day supply of food and drinking water (three liters per person per day), an emergency toilet, and other supplies in your home. If you run out of supplies, you can obtain more at the evacuation site. Be sure to inform the people running the evacuation site that you are staying in your own home.
■ National Early Warning System (J-Alert) Drill
Date and time: September 11 (Wed.), around 11:00 and 11:30 a.m.
Program: The Japanese government will run a nationwide automated test of J-Alert, which relays emergency information when there is a major disaster or military attack. The test broadcast will be heard from the speakers of the public announcement and siren systems in the city.
Broadcast contents: “Kore wa shiken hoso desu” (This is a test broadcast), announced three times; “Kochira wa Shinagawa kuyakusho desu” (This is the Shinagawa City Office); and chimes
■ An Emergency Warning Will Be Issued If a Threat or Major Disaster Is Likely
The Japan Meteorological Agency will issue an emergency warning under conditions that go beyond the alert standards, such as the tsunami that occurred with the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
If this emergency warning is issued, it means the area is now under unusually dangerous conditions—something that occurs perhaps only once every several decades. If you hear the alert, go immediately to an evacuation site. If it is already too dangerous to venture outside, please do what you can to protect yourself, including remaining in the safest part of your home.
Inquiries: Administration Division, Administration Department, Tokyo District Meteorological Observatory, Japan Meteorological Agency, Tel: 3212-2949
Open Evacuation Areas Have Been Expanded
Open evacuation areas are open spaces that people can evacuate to temporarily and shelter from the dangers of a spreading fire or other hazardous situations that can occur after a disaster strikes. Shinagawa City has newly designated and expanded two locations, giving it a total of ten.
In addition, designated non-evacuation areas—where the threat of a large fire in a disaster is very low and there is no need to evacuate—have also been expanded. It is a good idea to confirm the designated area closest to you.
