Earthquake or Tsunami Warning in Japan (2026): What a Malaysian Family Should Do, Before the Trip and When It Shakes
Checked 2026-11-06 · Updated 2026-11-06
Checked 6 Nov 2026 on the official pages of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the Japan Tourism Agency's "Safety tips for travelers" site and app page, and JNTO (japan.travel). Each step below is written the way the official page says it, not stronger.
Short answer. Do three things before you fly. (1) Install "Safety tips", the Japan Tourism Agency's app that pushes earthquake early warnings, tsunami warnings and weather warnings in 15 languages. Malay is not one of them, so set it to English or Indonesian. (2) Save four numbers: police 110, fire and ambulance 119, the Japan Visitor Hotline 050-3816-2787 (24 hours, every day, English, Chinese and Korean) and the Embassy of Malaysia in Tokyo, 03-3476-3840. (3) At hotel check-in, find the evacuation route. When it shakes, protect your head, get under a sturdy table, and don't rush outside. An early warning gives you only a few seconds to a few tens of seconds, and close to the epicentre it may come after the shaking. By the sea or a river, strong shaking or long shaking means go to high ground now, without waiting for a warning, and stay there until the warning is lifted. Checked 6 Nov 2026.
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1. Before you fly: what to set up
| What | Why | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Safety tips app (iOS 13.0+, Android 5.0+) | Pushes earthquake early warnings, tsunami warnings and other weather warnings in Japan. Has an evacuation flowchart and phrases to show people nearby. 15 languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (2), Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, Nepali, Khmer, Burmese, Mongolian | Japan Tourism Agency |
| 110 police, 119 fire and ambulance | Emergency numbers | JNTO |
| Japan Visitor Hotline 050-3816-2787 (from overseas +81-50-3816-2787) | 24 hours, 365 days. English, Chinese, Korean. Help with accidents, illness and natural disasters | JNTO |
| Embassy of Malaysia in Japan, 03-3476-3840 | 20-16 Nanpeidai-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0036 | JNTO, embassies list |
| Your embassy's location and number, written down | JNTO advises noting your embassy's details before you arrive, keeping copies of your passport, and buying travel insurance before departure | JNTO |
| A charged phone | "Make sure to keep your phone and devices fully charged" | JNTO |
2. When it shakes: by place
| Where you are | During the shaking | When it stops | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel room | Protect your head and take shelter under a durable table | Open the door and check the way out. Follow the hotel's instructions. Indoors may be safer; don't hastily run outside | Safety tips (JTA) |
| At home or in a room, if you hear the early warning | Protect your head, shelter under a table, don't rush outside. Don't worry about turning off the gas in the kitchen | JMA leaflet | |
| Museums, malls, stations, airports | Protect your head in an open hall or next to a pillar that won't move, away from things that can fall | Follow staff instructions. Don't use lifts that haven't been checked | Safety tips (JTA) |
| Underground (stations, shopping streets) | Stay calm, protect your head, wait for the shaking to stop. If there is no fire risk, underground is relatively safe | If emergency lights come on, walk out along the walls and follow staff | Safety tips (JTA) |
| Lift | Press all the floor buttons and get off at the floor where it stops | If stuck, press the emergency call button and wait calmly | Safety tips (JTA) |
| Train or subway | Hold the handrail or strap and protect your head. The train may brake automatically | Follow staff instructions. Don't step down onto the tracks on your own | Safety tips (JTA) |
| City street | Protect your head with a bag; stay away from buildings. Watch for falling signs, broken glass and concrete-block walls | Move to an open space with other people | Safety tips (JTA), JMA leaflet |
| By the sea or a river | A tsunami may come, in rivers too | Watch what people around you do and go to high ground or a tsunami shelter. Don't go back to the water until the warning is lifted | Safety tips (JTA) |
| Driving a rental car | Don't brake suddenly. Turn on the hazard lights, slow down smoothly, pull over to the left and stop | JMA leaflet |
After any of these, once it is safe: watch for aftershocks and secondary disasters, then go back to where you are staying (JNTO). JNTO calls fire the most dangerous secondary disaster, so put out any open flame quickly.
3. Tsunami warnings: the three levels
| Level (JMA) | Expected height | What JMA says will happen | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Tsunami Warning | More than 3 m (announced as 5 m, 10 m or over 10 m; "Huge") | Wooden buildings destroyed or washed away | Leave coastal and river areas immediately for high ground or a tsunami evacuation building |
| Tsunami Warning | Up to 3 m ("High") | Low-lying areas hit, buildings flooded, people swept away | Same: evacuate immediately to high ground or an evacuation building |
| Tsunami Advisory | Up to 1 m | Strong currents in the sea | Get out of the water and leave the coast |
Two rules from JMA matter most for a family on a beach day. A tsunami can arrive before a warning if the earthquake is close to the coast, so evacuate when you feel strong shaking, or weak shaking that goes on for a long time. And waves come again and again: don't leave the evacuation place until the warning is cleared.
4. How strong was it? The shindo scale
Japan reports shaking on JMA's seismic intensity scale (shindo), 0 to 7, with 5 and 6 each split into Lower and Upper. The numbers you'll see in alerts mean roughly this, from JMA's summary table:
| Shindo | What people feel (JMA) |
|---|---|
| 4 | Most people are startled; hanging lamps swing a lot |
| 5 Lower | Many people are frightened and want to hold onto something |
| 5 Upper | Many people find it hard to walk without holding onto something |
| 6 Lower | It is difficult to remain standing |
| 6 Upper and 7 | It is impossible to move without crawling |
5. Where to read official updates
- JMA's warnings map in English: earthquakes, tsunami warnings and weather warnings, at jma.go.jp/bosai (link in Sources).
- NHK WORLD-JAPAN (web and app) and Japan Safe Travel Information on JNTO's site, which JNTO lists for significant natural disasters. JNTO also posts on X as @JapanSafeTravel.
- Evacuation information from the city: at Alert Level 4 (Evacuation Instruction), the government's guidance is to evacuate immediately from any dangerous place, or shelter indoors. For visitors it says: check what Japanese people around you are doing and get to a safe place as early as possible.
6. Things that catch families out
- The warning is short. JMA says the early warning comes "a matter of seconds (or between several seconds and a few tens of seconds)" before strong shaking, and near the epicentre it may arrive too late. Agree with the kids before the trip: when a phone alarm sounds, protect your head and get under a table.
- The app has no Malay. Set Safety tips to English or Indonesian before you land, while you still have time to explore it.
- The hotline is not in Malay either. The Japan Visitor Hotline answers in English, Chinese and Korean.
- Lifts and gas. Press every floor button in a lift. At home, JMA says don't worry about the gas during the shaking.
- Running outside. Both JMA and the Japan Tourism Agency say don't rush outside. Falling glass and signs are the danger on the street.
- False alarms happen. In October 2026 JMA issued an early warning by mistake and then cancelled it: what happened. The official advice stays the same: protect yourself first.
Further reading: Kumamoto after the earthquake · Japan weather by month · arrival day: airport to city.
When an official page changes, this article gets updated.
Sources
All checked 6 November 2026. Next check: 6 December 2026.
| # | Source | Used for | URL | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan Tourism Agency, the app "Safety tips" | Alerts pushed; 15 languages; iOS 13.0+, Android 5.0+; evacuation flowchart; phrases | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/app.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 2 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: hotel | Under a durable table; open the door; don't hastily run outside | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e04.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 3 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: sightseeing and commercial facilities | Open hall or pillar; staff instructions; unchecked lifts | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e05.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 4 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: underground | Relatively safe if no fire risk; walk along walls | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e06.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 5 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: elevators | Press all floor buttons; emergency call button | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e07.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 6 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: downtown | Bag over head; away from buildings; open space | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e08.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 7 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: waterfronts | Tsunami in rivers too; high ground or shelters; stay away until lifted | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e09.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 8 | Safety tips for travelers, earthquake: inside a vehicle | Handrails; automatic braking; don't step onto tracks | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/earthquake/e11.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 9 | Safety tips for travelers, Major Tsunami Warning | Repeated waves; watch those around you | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/tsunami/t04.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 10 | Safety tips for travelers, Evacuation Instruction (Alert Level 4) | Evacuate immediately; check what people around you do | https://www.jnto.go.jp/safety-tips/eng/emergency/evacuation/ev03.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 11 | JMA, Earthquake Early Warning leaflet (PDF) | Dos and don'ts at home, outdoors, public buildings, lifts, trains, driving | https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/EEWLeaflet.pdf | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 12 | JMA, Limitations of the Earthquake Early Warning | Seconds to a few tens of seconds; may be late near the epicentre | https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/eew3.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 13 | JMA, Tsunami Warnings/Advisories and Tsunami Information | Three levels, heights, damage, actions; may arrive before a warning; stay until cleared | https://www.data.jma.go.jp/eqev/data/en/guide/tsunamiinfo.html | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 14 | JMA, Summary of the Seismic Intensity Scale (PDF) | Shindo 0–7 and what people feel | https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/intsummary.pdf | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 15 | JMA, warnings and earthquake map (English) | Where to read live warnings | https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/#lang=en&pattern=default | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 16 | JNTO, Japan Visitor Hotline | 050-3816-2787; 24 h; English, Chinese, Korean; 110 and 119 | https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/hotline/ | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 17 | JNTO, Staying Safe in Japan | Evacuation routes at check-in; fire; charged phone; embassy details, passport copies, insurance; NHK WORLD-JAPAN | https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/emergencies/ | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 18 | JNTO, Safe Travel Information: earthquake | Protect your head; staff instructions; aftershocks; @JapanSafeTravel | https://www.japan.travel/en/japan-safe-travel-information/earthquake/ | 6 Nov 2026 |
| 19 | JNTO, embassies list | Embassy of Malaysia address and 03-3476-3840 | https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/embassies-foreign/ | 6 Nov 2026 |
Before you fly: Map of 231 halal places & prayer rooms (US$6.99) — December Edition, 15 Nov.
A 7-day Japan itinerary for a family of four, December 2026: real budget in RM, 4-person hotels, halal food and prayer on your route (a map sample), and a what-to-book-when calendar (PDF, BM & EN). Sign up & download →