Earthquakes and Japan

I have a question that, surprisingly, is not asked here much, and there isn't even a page on japan-guide.com about this subject (IMO there should be).

As we all know, Japan gets more e'quakes than any other country in the world. Obviously it must be very well prepared (though disasters do still happen and I remember reading some time ago somewhere that many newer buildings in Japan are not built per code to withstand earthquakes well).

However, the issue is that little if any English is spoken, and that Japan is really only geared all towards Japanese (only).

So, as a non-Japanese-speaking/reading tourist, anything one should be aware of in case an earthquake hits?

(I am asking as there has been a recent string of big earthquakes around the world - that are believed to be inter-connected, and I remember reading a few weeks ago that oarfish (ryugu no tsukai) are coming up from their usual depths of 200m to 1000m below the surface of the sea, and that this is a sign that a big earthquake may be imminent.)

Basically, what to expect, what to listen for, what to look for, what to avoid, where to go, etc... especially knowing that any instructions given or any announcements will be in Japanese.

I would presume that all trains in the affected area would immediately come to a halt upon an eartquake of a certain size, and that the trains should be safe not to derail no matter what (be built w e'quakes in mind), for example. The older buildings/tourist sights I would think have withstood so many eartquakes, so again should be fine.
But just in general, as a tourist, anything to keep in mind, to be aware of, to avoid, to look for, etc. in case a big earthquake hits (and we have no idea what is being said or announced around us!)?

Just trying to be prepared (I always am), that's all..

The authorities are aware of the language issue as the number of illiterate foreign residents is steadily increasing. Multi-lingual signs have been in use in evacuation areas during recent earthquakes such as the ones in Niigata and I trust that multi-lingual information will also be available through the media.

Apart from that there is not much difference between how you should react to an earthquake as opposed to how a Japanese person should react, except that you should try to contact your embassy as soon as possible by telling the authorities at the evacuation site that you are a foreigner.

Here is some general information on earthquakes in Japan and how to react (by japan-guide.com):
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2116.html

There is lots of information about this topic written on various Japan expat websites, so I'm not going to address the topic of what to do if one hits.

What I'm wondering about is why you think the trains won't derail in an earthquake? They very well might- trains run on rails, and nobody has yet developed a way to keep them on the rails 100% of the time, which is why we still get derailments from time to time, whether caused by earthquakes or not. The Niigata shinkansen derailed in one of the big Niigata earthquakes a few years back- luckily it was not moving very fast at the time.

Older Japanese tourist sites have usually been rebuilt many times due to fire, typhoons or earthquakes, so no, they are no more likely than anywhere else to be safe places to be in a large earthquake.

As mentioned by Sira, earthquakes certainly have the potential to derail trains as shown by the following photo from Kobe:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00904/images/kobevasut.jpg

But such extensive damage to train tracks is very rare and limited to small areas of worst hit places during only the strongest earthquakes. The probability of being in exactly such a place during the event of a major earthquake is extremely small. It is more likely that you will be hit and hurt by a bad driver on the streets in your home city.

Not trying to scare you, but just wanted to show you why stopping trains from derailing isn't really possible. Here is a picture of a local train derailed in Niigata after the 2007 earthquake, which was so strong that we felt it in Tokyo:

http://factsanddetails.com/media/2/20090817-Niigata%202007%20%20Archiv...

And the derailed shinkansen (actually it was the Joetsu rather than the Niigata one):
http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia33/images/feature/17_1.jpg

Really you are very much underestimating the forces involved in an earthquake if you think it's possible to keep all trains on the rails during one! As Uji says, you are far more likely to be hit by a vehicle while crossing the road than be in a train during an earthquake in Japan, so it is not really something you need to spend too much time thinking about.

I don't know where the OP is but every so often we have tremblors in Western Canada. I was born / raised in France and they do get hundreds of tremblors a year. Italy and other European countries get more serious earthquakes..but life goes on ..

Usually .there is no time for advance warning for an earthquake--so far --It happens, usually at night or early morning, and by the time you fall out or bed or whatever ..the earthquake is finished. This is when you have to try to get out as other tremblors will come, so better be in a safe place-if there is such a thing.

A relative of a friend of mine in Japan slept soundly right through a very heavy earthquake. She only woke up because someone banged loudly on her door for a while! She was shocked to see that the houses on both sides of her home were badly damaged, while her old house only lost some roof tiles. She did move out for a while, just in case.

It depends on how you view "derailing".

Technically a train going off the tracks is of course derailing.

Of course the "image" many people have is of a train going at high speed "flying" off the tracks when they hear a train has "derailed", you know the hollywood, tv image.

In case of a major major earthquake, probably a train would "derail" in a technical sense, probably, would the trains be flying off the tracks as people might imagine, probably not. Systems are in place where if an earthquake is happening trains are slowed down and stopped as soon as possible to prevent trains from actually flying off the tracks.

I think the OP might be referring to the "image" of trains flying off and crashing "derailing" vs the technical sense of a train derailing.

This link from the US Embassy/Japan provides excellent information on some of your questions:

http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7111.html

Here in San Francisco the October 1989 quake was a big wake up call even to those of us that have lived here all our lives. As already stated, an earthquake is usually over by the time you realize what's going on. But if the shaking continues or becomes heavy keeping your wits about you and knowing what to do is essential. Many of us here in the Bay Area keep backpacks filled with survival equipment and food stored where hopefully we will be able to get to them in the aftermath of a large quake. The one commodity likely to be disrupted in a major quake is water service. Keep a few large plastic bottles handy and rotate them with fresh bottles as time passes.

Anycase lets move away from that point about trains and answer the other parts of the question.

As mentioned language difficulties have been planned and discussed in city planning. Many of the major evacuation zone maps are printed in Japanese and English, I notice many also have Korean and Chinese on them as well.

For example here are some photos of such signs you will find in Tokyo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petervee/2253124607/sizes/l/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29984069@N08/4272092689/

The Japanese word for earthquake is "Jishin".

If it is a major earthquake and lets say you are on a train or inside a store, my suggestion, just follow everyone else in what they are doing. Doesn't make good sense to go left when everyone is walking right.