Earthquakes, typhoons and alerts

Japan is well prepared for natural disasters. Make sure your phone is too.

What to know

• Safety tips is a free app for visitors, overseen by the Japan Tourism Agency. It sends push alerts for emergency earthquake warnings, tsunami warnings, special weather warnings and volcanic eruptions, plus evacuation and heatstroke information.
• It works in 14 languages, on iPhone and Android.
• It also has flowcharts for what to do next and communication cards for asking people nearby for help.
• The Japan Meteorological Agency publishes disaster-prevention weather information and typhoon information on its website in 14 languages.
• For English news during an emergency, follow NHK World-Japan and JNTO's Japan Safe Travel account on X (@JapanSafeTravel).
• The Japan Visitor Hotline (050-3816-2787) takes calls about natural disasters 24 hours a day.
• The Japan Tourism Agency publishes a printable safety information card. Carry it with your passport.

psst, install Safety tips at home, then open it once and allow notifications. An alert that's switched off won't wake you up.

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