Looking for words and vocabulary involving earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and other disasters in the Japanese language?
Japan is known for its vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, floods and landslides. Due to its geographic location, the country regularly faces these events and the inhabitants need to be prepared to face them.
Preparation includes knowledge of specific and words related to disasters, as well as recommended safety measures.
In this article, we are going to explore some of these words and used in Japan for natural disasters, to better understand how the Japanese prepare for and deal with these events.
We recommend using your browser's search engine to find the words you want, it's an extensive vocabulary list. (You can use CTRL+F)
We recommend reading:
- List of disasters in Japan by death toll
- Gaman and Nintai – Resilience in Japanese
- The 10 worst earthquakes in Japan

Table of Contents
Key warning in Japanese
Below are some alerts and notices in Japanese, important that carry official weight and indicate the seriousness of the situation. See below:
- Warning (chūihō) - Alerts
- 警報 (keihō) - Alerts
- Special Alert (tokubetsu keihō) - Emergency alerts
- Weather Information (kishō jōhō) - Bulletins
List of warnings and alerts
- Wind and Snow Advisory (fūsetsu chūihō) - Wind and Snow Advisory
- Strong Wind Warning (kyōfū chūihō) - Strong Wind Alert
- Heavy Rain Warning (ōame chūihō) - Warning of heavy rain
- Heavy Snow Warning (ōyuki chūihō) - Strong Snow Warning
- Dense Fog Warning (nōmu chūihō) - Dense Fog Advisory
- Thunder Warning (kaminari chūihō) - Storm Advisory
- Dry Weather Advisory (kansō chūihō) - Dry Air Warning
- なだれ注意報 (nadare chūihō) - Avalanche warning
- Ice/Snow Accumulation Advisory (chakuhyō chakusetsu chūihō) - Ice/Snow Accumulation Advisory
- 霜注意報 (shimo chūihō) - Frost Warning
- Low Temperature Warning (teion chūihō) - Low temperature alert
- 融雪注意報 (yūsetsu chūihō) - Snowmelt advisory
- Tide Warning (takashio chūihō) - High Tide Warning
- Wave Warning (harō chūihō) - High waves warning
- Flood Warning (kōzui chūihō) - Flood Warning
words involving disaster
Below we will see a complete list of words involving natural disasters in Japanese:
- Earthquake (jishin) - earthquake
- Shindo (shindo) - intensity of the earthquake
- Epicenter - location of the earthquake's origin
- Tsunami (tsunami) - giant wave caused by an earthquake
- Evacuation - evacuation
- Seismic Motion (jishin dō) - seismic movement
- Earthquake occurrence - ocorrência de um terremoto
- 地盤沈下 (jiban chinka) - ground subsidence caused by an earthquake
- Earthquake Early Warning (kin gi jishin sokuhō) - emergency earthquake alert
- Earthquake Forecast (jishin yosoku) - earthquake prediction
- Earthquake Alert (jishin keihou) - earthquake alert
- Epicenter (shin'gen) - origin of the earthquake
- Earthquake damage (jishin shouga) - damages caused by the earthquake
- Earthquake damage (jishin higai) - damages caused by the earthquake
- 津波警報 (tsunami keihou) - tsunami alert
- Tsunami damage (tsunami higai) - damages caused by the tsunami
- Natural disasters (fuu suigai) - damage caused by strong winds
- Typhoon Damage (taifuu higai) - damage caused by the typhoon
- Flood damage (kouzui higai) - damages caused by floods
- Mountain Earthquake (sangaku jishin) - mountain earthquake
- Volcanic Eruption (kazan funka) - volcanic eruption
- 土砂崩れ (dosha kuzure) - landslide
- Ground subsidence (jiban chinka) - soil subsidence
- Land slide (jisuberi) - land slip
- 雪崩 (yukibou) - snow avalanche
- Tsunami - tsunami
- Volcanic Eruption (kazan funka) - volcanic eruption
- Flood (kōzu) - flood
- Mountain Earthquake (sangaku jishin) - mountain earthquake
- Ground subsidence (jiban chinka) - soil subsidence
- 土砂崩れ (doshabare) - landslide
- Typhoon (taifū) - typhoon
- 雪崩 (yukibare) - avalanche
- 竜巻 (tatsumaki) - tornado
- 雷 (kaminari) - thunder
- 雨 (ame) - rain
- Thunderstorm (raiame) - storm
- Flood (suigai) - damages caused by water
- 風 (kaze) - wind
- 嵐 (arashi) - storm
- 津波警報 (tsunami keihō) - tsunami alert
- State of Emergency (kin'gyō jitai) - emergency situation
- Evacuation - evacuation
- Rescue (kyūjo) - help
- Emergency Water Supply (kin'gyō kyūsui) - emergency water supply
- 避難所 (hinansho) - emergency shelter
- Fire truck (shōbōsha) - fire engine
- Ambulance (kyūkyūsha) - ambulance
- Helicopter - helicopter
- Firefighter (shōbōshi) - firefighter
- Emergency medical technician (EMT) - paramedic
- Disaster Prevention (bōsai) - disaster prevention
- 災害 (saigai) - disaster