Japan tsunami: Latest travel advice as threat of high tsunami to last one more day and woman dies - is there an evacuation order
Masashi Kiyomoto, an official from the Japan Meteorological Agency, has warned that the threat of a high tsunami will last for at least one more day.
According to remarks carried by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Kiyomoto urged people in coastal areas and along rivers to move to higher ground and other safe places as “tsunami are now continuing to be observed”. The official also said that a tsunami can continue to be observed over a long period.
He also told people to remain alert as tide levels could be higher than at present if tsunamis occur at high tide. The most widespread alerts have been raised especially around the coastal areas of the northern island of Hokkaido and the Pacific coastal areas of the main Honshu island.
People have been told to evacuate coastal areas, stay away from the mouths of rivers and harbours, seek refuge at higher ground or the highest floors of sturdy buildings. NHK World reports that tsunami waves have reached as high as 1.3 metres (4.3ft) in Kuji Port in northeastern Japan.
Waves have also risen to 80cm (2.6ft) in Nemuro Hanasaki and 70cm (2.3ft) in Ishinomaki Port. Wave heights are steadily rising elsewhere in Japan to 50 and 60cm (1.6 and 2ft), up from 20cm (0.7ft) earlier this morning.
A woman has died while attempting to evacuate in Japan. In Kumano City, Mie Prefecture, a woman aged 58 was killed when her car went off a cliff while she was trying to leave a coastal area.
Following the tsunami warning, the driver was on her way to an evacuation site when her car fell from a height of about 30 metres on a national highway in Homo Town, Kumano City. Authorities in Japan have ordered the evacuation of approximately 1.9 million residents due to tsunami warnings. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant also underwent a precautionary evacuation, with approximately 4,000 workers relocated to higher ground while operations continued remotely.
The Foreign Office has issued new travel advice. It says: “Following the magnitude 8.8 earthquake off of the eastern coast of Russia, the Japanese Meteorological Agency has issued tsunami warnings of up to three meters along Japan’s Pacific coast from Hokkaido to Wakayama.
“Please follow the advice of local authorities. For further information in English, please access the NHK website.”