Earthquakes, typhoons, heavy rains... Japan is a country where natural disasters often strike.
This article introduces websites and apps where you can learn about natural disasters in Japanese and study Japanese phrases useful in times of disaster.

1. Understanding Natural Disasters (Tokyo Intercultural Portal Site)

On this site you can learn about natural disasters in easy-to-understand Japanese.
Available in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Nepali, Portuguese, Spanish, Burmese, and Indonesian.

Includes contents such as Understanding Natural Disasters, The Disaster-Awareness Video, and Natural Disaster Q&A.

Learn about Natural Disasters

Here you can read various articles.
For example, you can learn about the characteristics of disasters in Japan through articles like About Earthquakes in Japan and About Heavy Rainfall and Typhoons.

Take a look at Vol. 7: In the Event of an Earthquake.

You can read it in easy-to-understand Japanese. Illustrations make it easy to visualize.
Look up unfamiliar words and take notes as you read.

After reading  in Japanese, it might be a good idea to read it in the language you understand, as well.

Additionally, Preparing for Disasters explains what to prepare before a disaster. About Evacuation Center shows you where to evacuate after a disaster.

The Disaster-Awareness Video

You can watch videos about earthquakes, typhoons and heavy rain.
Now let's watch a video: Typhoons, heavy rain, and how to prepare for such weather events.

Animation makes learning easy. You can also read the script while listening to the Japanese audio.

Switch to another language for the audio and script in that language.

Natural Disaster Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about natural disasters.
There are 11 topics, including Before a Disaster, Evacuation, Communication and Information, and Mental Health.
What would you like to know? Start reading from what you want to know about.

This content is part of the Tokyo Intercultural Portal Site.
Operated by the public interest incorporated foundation Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation TSUNAGARI.

2. Irodori Japanese Online Course: Elementary 2 (A2) Topic 8 Lesson 16

The Irodori Japanese Online Course (introduction article) teaches useful Japanese for natural disasters.
Let's look at Lesson 16, Do not panic in case of an earthquake, in Elementary 2 (A2) Topic 8: Nature and Environment.

Now take a quick look at Can-do 71: Can ask people around you for the necessary information in case of a disaster.

You can practice by listening to and saying words commonly used in a natural disaster.

You can also listen to dialogues that are common during natural disasters to learn important vocabulary and grammar.
It has lots of quizzes for you to review and learn Japanese that is useful during natural disasters.

3. Safety tips（iOS／Android）

This app was developed under the supervision of the Japan Tourism Agency, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Download the app to receive emergency notifications about disasters in Japan.
For example, emergency earthquake alerts, tsunami warnings, typhoon information, and more.

Available in Japanese, English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, Nepali, Khmer, Burmese, and Mongolian.

The Communication Cards help you to learn phrases to use during natural disasters.

Romaji readings are provided to help you learn how to read the kanji.
Study what Japanese you'll need before a disaster strikes.
Even if you forget, you can show this card to communicate.
This content is available in English, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (traditional and simplified).