How Do You Stay Safe in Atami? Tsunami, Landslides and Heavy Rain
This guide is for visitors and second-home owners in Atami. It explains what to do if an earthquake strikes near the sea, how warnings for tsunamis and heavy rain work, the warning signs of landslides, and where to find Atami's hazard maps and alerts.
We used pages from Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the Japan Tourism Agency. All were read on 2026-10-04. Maps and warning systems change. In a real emergency, follow local announcements and staff instructions first.
Tsunami: a wave can arrive within minutes
Atami City's tsunami inundation map gives the shortest expected arrival time as three minutes. The city's advice for anyone near the coast is short: if you feel an earthquake, evacuate at once, quickly and to higher ground.
The city's disaster guidebook adds these points:
- Do not judge the danger by how strongly the ground shook. A large tsunami can follow weak shaking.
- Do not evacuate by car. Traffic jams trapped many people in the 2011 disaster.
- Each person should evacuate on their own, without going to find family first. Agree on this in advance.
- Learn where the tsunami evacuation buildings are before anything happens.
- A tsunami may not start with the sea pulling back. It can arrive as a sudden surge.
- Water only 30 cm deep can sweep a person away.
- If you are too late to reach a distant site, go to the upper floors of a nearby building.
Waves come again and again, and the first is not always the largest. The guidebook says to stay away from the coast until warnings and advisories are lifted. It suggests staying alert for at least 12 hours.
The city says it will broadcast tsunami evacuation calls outdoors after a large earthquake. It also publishes a tourist safety map for visitors.
How JMA tsunami warnings work
JMA issues tsunami warnings by region, based on the expected height. It aims to do so about three minutes after an earthquake, or sooner in some cases.
- Tsunami Advisory: up to 1 metre.
- Tsunami Warning: up to 3 metres. In very large earthquakes, the first warning may say "High" instead of a number.
- Major Tsunami Warning: more than 3 metres. The first warning may say "Huge". JMA says waves as large as those of 2011 may then hit.
JMA warns that if the earthquake is close to the coast, a tsunami may arrive before any warning. Evacuate after strong shaking, or after weak shaking that goes on for a long time.
Atami City issues an evacuation order for tsunamis without a warning level. Its reason is that people must leave danger areas as fast as possible for any tsunami.
This has happened recently. On 30 July 2025, after a large earthquake near the Kamchatka Peninsula, a tsunami warning was issued for Shizuoka Prefecture. The city ordered coastal areas to evacuate, then lifted the order when the warning was cleared that evening.
Maps: tsunami zones and landslide areas
Atami City revised its disaster guidebook in December 2025. It is online as PDFs, in one file or by section. The sections cover earthquakes, tsunami inundation maps, landslide hazard maps, floods and storm surges, and volcanoes.
On 7 March 2023, Shizuoka Prefecture designated parts of Atami as a Tsunami Disaster Warning Area, also called a yellow zone. The prefecture's page has maps of each area.
The guidebook explains two kinds of landslide zone. In a warning area, warning and evacuation systems are put in place. In a special warning area, buildings could collapse in a landslide, and new homes need permits or checks.
The city's designated emergency evacuation sites for tsunamis include the Taga Elementary School ground, the rooftop of the Ajiro community hall and Hatsushima Park. Its shelters for people who cannot go home are mainly schools.
Heavy rain and landslides
The guidebook names three types of landslide. A debris flow sweeps soil and rock down a slope or stream at great speed. A slope failure is a sudden collapse of a slope softened by rain. A slow landslide moves a large area downhill over time.
It lists warning signs to watch for. If you notice any, move to a safe place at once:
- Stream water suddenly turns muddy or carries driftwood.
- You hear trees splitting, rocks moving, or rumbling from the slope or ground.
- Cracks or bulges appear on a slope, or small stones fall from it.
- Landslides happen nearby.
Shizuoka Prefecture and JMA jointly issue landslide alerts when the risk rises. The guidebook stresses that these alerts are only a guide. They do not pinpoint where or when a landslide will happen.
On 29 May 2026, JMA started a new system of weather warnings. Warnings for heavy rain, landslides, river flooding and storm surges now carry a level number. For example, the heavy rain warning is now called a "Level 3 heavy rain warning".
JMA says to evacuate early when a Level 3 or Level 4 warning is issued. If going outside is dangerous, move to an upper floor of a nearby solid building, away from rivers and cliffs. Atami City gives the same advice.
The July 2021 Izusan debris flow
On 3 July 2021, a debris flow struck the Izusan district of Atami along the Aizome River. In a February 2023 release, the city gave the death toll as 28. That figure includes 27 direct deaths and one disaster-related death.
A restricted zone was set in part of Izusan on 16 August 2021. The city lifted it on 1 September 2023. It held a memorial ceremony on 3 July 2026, five years after the disaster. The city's website continues to post news on recovery work in the area.
How to get alerts in Atami
- Disaster radio playback: the city's disaster radio broadcasts can be hard to hear in wind and rain. The city says echoes in its bowl-shaped terrain make it worse in some areas. Call 0557-86-6066 to hear the latest broadcast. The service is free, but you pay for the call.
- Shizuoka Prefecture app: the prefecture's disaster app sends emergency alerts and shows hazard maps.
- SIPOS-RADAR: a website showing current weather warnings for each town in Shizuoka Prefecture, landslide alerts, and typhoon and earthquake news.
- Japan Tourism Agency: its "Safety tips for travelers" site shows JMA warnings in English. It notes that some hotels and inns are designated to take in evacuees.
For second-home owners
Atami City asks households to store at least one week of water and food. For one person, that means 3 litres of water a day, or 21 litres, and 21 meals. Check your route to the nearest evacuation site in advance.
What we could not verify, and therefore left out
- The tsunami flooding depth for particular streets or beaches. The city's maps show this, but we did not read them area by area.
- The details of the city's tourist safety map. It is an image file, and we could not read its text.
- Whether the city's outdoor broadcasts, phone playback or the prefecture's app are in English.
- The causes of the 2021 debris flow. We did not summarise the official findings here.
Related guides
- How do you get to Atami from Tokyo or Haneda? Shinkansen, Odoriko and buses from the station
- What are Atami's fireworks over the bay? Dates for 2026–27, where to watch and getting home
Sources
All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.
- ハザードマップ（防災ガイドブック） (Atami City) — (guidebook revised December 2025; sections; yellow zone designation)
- 防災ガイドブック 津波編 (Atami City) — (shortest arrival time three minutes; repeated waves; 12 hours; 30 cm; four evacuation points; upper floors)
- 防災ガイドブック 風水害・土砂災害編 (Atami City) — (landslide types and warning signs; landslide alerts; warning areas)
- 避難について (Atami City) — (new JMA system from 29 May 2026; no warning level for tsunami orders; upper floors; evacuation sites and shelters)
- 地震（津波）対策 (Atami City) — (evacuate quickly and high near the coast; one week of water and food)
- 熱海海上花火大会日程について (Atami City) — (outdoor tsunami evacuation calls; tourist safety map)
- 津波について (Atami City) — (tsunami warning and evacuation order of 30 July 2025)
- 熱海市の区域指定状況 (Shizuoka Prefecture) — (Tsunami Disaster Warning Area designated 7 March 2023)
- Tsunami Warning/Advisory and Tsunami Information (Japan Meteorological Agency) — (warning levels; "Huge" and "High"; timing; near-coast earthquakes)
- 新たな防災気象情報について(令和８年～) (Japan Meteorological Agency) — (new warning system from 29 May 2026; level names; when to evacuate)
- 伊豆山で発生した土石流災害に関する情報 (Atami City) — (restricted zone set 16 August 2021 and lifted 1 September 2023; recovery news)
- 報道発表資料 (Atami City) — (date of the disaster, 3 July 2021)
- 逢初川土石流災害に係る検証資料の公表について (Atami City) — (the disaster named after the Aizome River)
- 伊豆山土石流災害の災害死の認定について (Atami City) — (28 deaths: 27 direct, 1 related)
- 令和3年7月熱海市伊豆山土石流災害犠牲者追悼式 (Atami City) — (memorial on 3 July 2026, five years on)
- 同報無線音声再生サービス (Atami City) — (phone playback of disaster radio; free service)
- 静岡県総合防災アプリ「静岡県防災」のご案内 (Atami City) — (prefecture disaster app)
- SIPOS-RADAR (Atami City) — (prefecture warning and landslide alert website)
- Safety tips for travelers (Japan Tourism Agency) — (JMA warnings in English; hotels as shelters)