Japanese Earthquake Phrases: Understand Immediate Instructions

During shaking, action comes before full translation. If you hear 頭を守ってください, protect your head immediately. In a public building, follow responsible staff and do not rush toward an exit while objects may still be falling. The safest movement depends on the actual place; one memorized route cannot decide it.

Protect yourself from the shaking first. Then, near the sea or a river mouth, strong shaking, long slow shaking, or a tsunami warning means move away from the coast toward a higher safe place. Do not wait for a translated message before beginning the tsunami action.

Elsewhere, after the shaking weakens or stops, ask for the current route and a destination designated for the actual hazard. Japanese helps you recognize an instruction; it does not certify that every building, road, or assembly point is safe.

Act on the First Instruction During Shaking

緊急地震速報 (kinkyū jishin sokuhō) is an Earthquake Early Warning. The Japan Meteorological Agency’s current overview explains that it may provide only valuable seconds before strong tremors. Do not spend those seconds translating the entire phone screen.

Head protection may use a cushion, your arms, or a sturdy table depending on what is safely within reach. Do not move toward glass, unsecured furniture, a blocked doorway, or another hazard just to reproduce a practice script. The immediate goal is protection in the actual environment.

Change the Rule Near the Coast or a River Mouth

Near the sea, receiving and translating a warning is not a prerequisite for action. The JMA tsunami safety page says that a tsunami warning or advisory, strong shaking, or long slow shaking should prompt people to leave the coast and move to a higher safe place.

It also warns that tsunamis can repeat and that people must not return while a warning remains in force.

Do not turn 高い場所 into permission to choose any tall building. Use a current tsunami hazard map, an actual tsunami evacuation sign, or the route given by the responsible authority.

Near a river mouth, move away from the river as well as the coastline when the current official guidance says the area is exposed.

A warning being lifted is not automatically permission to return. A JMA tsunami-safety leaflet notes that a municipal evacuation instruction may still remain after the warning ends. Check the current local instruction before returning.

Ask for the Current Route After Shaking

The FDMA guidance for after the tremors stop says to check around you before moving because toppling furniture and scattered glass can injure people.

Once the shaking has weakened or stopped and you can follow the next instruction, ask for a concrete route instead of asking a companion to guarantee that a place is safe.

You may also hear 余震に注意してください (“Watch out for aftershocks”). Do not treat 余震 as a promise that later shaking will be weak. The JMA’s current guidance on earthquake activity after a large event tells people to remain prepared for strong shaking while activity is elevated.

In a facility, ask staff, the transport crew, or the drill coordinator. Outside, use current municipal alerts, signs, and hazard maps. A friend can help you understand the words, but should not be made the authority who certifies a route or destination.

Match 避難場所 to the Hazard

The Cabinet Office distinguishes two similar terms in its current evacuation-place guidance:

• 指定緊急避難場所 is an emergency evacuation place designated by a municipality for a specific hazard, such as earthquake, tsunami, flood, landslide, or large fire.
• 指定避難所 is a facility where evacuees may stay for a period. It is not designated separately for each hazard, although one facility can serve both roles.

Therefore, 避難場所 by itself does not prove that a nearby school, park, or building is suitable for a tsunami or any other event. Check the hazard symbol or current municipal instruction.

Report a Blocked Route, Fire, or Injury

Use short factual phrases. Report what you see, smell, or cannot access; do not claim a technical cause and do not enter a hazardous area to gather details.

Give the location next: 二階です (“On the second floor”) or 駅の東口です (“At the station’s east exit”). Move away from immediate danger first.

For a fire or urgent injury, alert responsible staff and call 119 when you can do so; the FDMA 119 page explains the information the dispatcher requests. Use Japanese emergency phrases for the call sequence.

Repair Only the Missing Detail

Repair language is useful after you have acted on the urgent instruction. It must not delay immediate head protection or coastal tsunami evacuation.

Listen for the reply and point to the route if needed. A short closed loop—question, answer, confirmation—is safer than continuing with a guessed direction.

Follow live earthquake alerts, not a memorized script

Source check (August 11, 2026): this revision checked the current JMA Earthquake Early Warning overview, FDMA indoor earthquake guidance, FDMA after-tremor guidance, JMA tsunami safety guidance, JMA guidance on earthquake activity after a large event, and Cabinet Office evacuation-place guidance.

Before an event, check the local hazard map and alert settings for the places where you stay. The Japan Tourism Agency’s Safety tips app page describes multilingual earthquake, tsunami, and weather alerts for international visitors and residents.

During an event, current national and local alerts, responsible facility staff, transport crews, and emergency services take priority over this lesson. Qualified Japanese-language and disaster-safety review is still required before the safety review can be marked complete.

Move from the first instruction to verified local guidance

• During shaking, protect your head and do not make the exit your automatic first move.
• Near the sea or a river mouth, strong or long slow shaking can require tsunami evacuation before a translated warning arrives.
• After the shaking phase, ask for the current route and a destination designated for the actual hazard.
• Report an obstruction, fire, smell, or injury as an observable fact, then give its location.
• Use repair language only after the urgent action has begun.

Distinguish earthquake action from typhoon preparation

Earthquake language begins with an immediate protective instruction; typhoon language often allows more preparation time. Compare both, then keep the emergency lesson ready for a situation that requires direct help.

• Turn a typhoon warning into a current action
• Ask for emergency help and give a location