Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit region

Japanese authorities told tens of thousands of people to evacuate the quake-hit region of Ishikawa on Saturday as “unprecedented” rains triggered floods and landslides.

A dozen rivers in the region had burst their banks as of 11:00am local time, land ministry official Masaru Kojima said.

The cities of Wajima and Suzu, as well as Noto town, ordered about 44,700 residents to evacuate, local officials said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said it issued its highest level warning for Ishikawa, cautioning of a “life-threatening situation”.

The areas under the warning were seeing “heavy rain of unprecedented levels”, JMA forecaster Satoshi Sugimoto told reporters, adding “it is a situation in which you have to secure your safety immediately”.