Photo/Illutration Shiti Maghfira in Sendai’s Aoba Ward on Dec. 12 (Yu Mimura)

SENDAI—The central government’s first disaster advisory under a new warning system caused confusion among foreign residents and even Japanese citizens.

It was issued after the Dec. 8 quake off Aomori Prefecture under the name: “Off the coast of Hokkaido and Sanriku subsequent earthquake advisory.”

The advisory called for heightened vigilance against possible subsequent earthquakes for one week until midnight on Dec. 16. But it also urged people in the target area to reconfirm their preparations and to prepare a system for evacuation.

Since it was the first advisory issued under the disaster system introduced in December 2022, many Japanese were surprised by the lengthy content.

For foreign residents, many of whom are not fluent in Japanese, the advisory added to their stress.

The Sendai Tourism, Convention and International Association (SenTIA), which supports foreigners living in Sendai, simplified the warning in a post on social media on Dec. 9: “Atokara kuru jishin ni, ki o tsukete kudasai” (Please be careful of aftershocks).

The message included translations in five languages: English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Nepali.

About 18,000 foreign nationals live in the capital of Miyagi Prefecture.

The government’s advisory is based on past events in the region off the Sanriku coast and the Pacific side of Hokkaido. In those cases, an even larger earthquake occurred following a magnitude 7-class quake.

SenTIA staff thought that if the government’s information was conveyed only in Japanese, foreign nationals would have difficulty understanding it.

Staff members opted to use a template created several years ago calling for “caution about aftershocks.” They believed it was most appropriate—and simplified--message.

“We were not prepared for the subsequent earthquake advisory,” a SenTIA representative said. “We were unable to provide a message about reconfirming preparations and preparing a system for evacuation.”

In the future, the organization will consult with government officials, including the city’s crisis management bureau, to decide which information should be disseminated in the event of a disaster and prepare a new template.

The advisory was confusing to even long-time foreign residents in Japan.

“I saw the advisory, but I did not understand the specific preparations,” said Zhen Shengxia, who is from China and has lived in Japan for nearly 30 years. “New arrivals may struggle to understand any of the advisory’s content.”

Shiti Maghfira, a graduate student at Tohoku University who is from Indonesia, used her experience in surviving a major earthquake in her home country to provide advice after the Dec. 8 quake.

She posted information on social media in English and Indonesian for her friends who have little experience with earthquakes.

“The news and the tsunami warnings were all in Japanese. People who are not used to Japanese cannot understand,” she said.

She said she wishes the full text of the tsunami warnings sent to mobile phones was available in English.

Duwadi Bhawani from Nepal pointed out the difficulty of urging caution among foreign residents.

After experiencing the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, she registered as a “Sendai foreign resident disaster prevention leader,” who call for disaster preparedness among foreigners.

After the Dec. 8 earthquake, she shared SenTIA’s post and called for foreign residents to take precautions.

However, she said the majority did not understand what they should actually be preparing for.

Although she was anxious during the 2011 disaster, she recalls feeling safe during her evacuation surrounded by Japanese people.

“During a disaster, everyone should feel the same anxiety,” she said. “I want Japanese people and foreigners to help each other.”

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