The Meteorological Agency on Aug. 30 started a system to use a "special warning" (tokubetsu keiho) designation for natural disasters that are very likely to cause heavy damage. As Mr. Mitsuhiko Hatori, director general of the agency, said, a special warning means that a life or death situation is imminent. Once such a warning is issued, the general public and local governments must think that a life-threatening situation is approaching and take necessary action — that is, evacuate quickly to minimize the possibility of disaster-related casualties.

Special warnings will be issued for heavy rains, storms, high tides, high waves, heavy snow and blizzards. But the agency will continue to use the conventional terms "emergency earthquake early warning" (kinkyu jishin sokuho) for an earthquake whose intensity is six or higher on the Japanese scale of seven, "eruption warning" (funka keiho) for a volcanic eruption that requires evacuation and "major tsunami warning" (o-tsunami keiho) for a tsunami that is more than three meters high. The agency said that these conventional terms are on a par with special warnings.

In the case of heavy rains, a special warning will be issued for each municipality when a record heavy rain for the past 50 years is imminent. The agency has set a criterion for issuing a special heavy rain warning by studying past precipitation records, including precipitation for three hours periods and for 48 hour periods, in individual municipalities across the country.