As Typhoon Etau ripped northward across the central part of Japan this week, residents, office workers and pedestrians in Tokyo¡¯s Minato Ward had a surprise when their smartphones abruptly made an unfamiliar ringtone and the screen flashed an alert.
The alert, ¡°evacuation preparation information regarding mudslide disaster,¡± was issued Wednesday and the first of its kind for the ward, though Tokyoites may be more familiar with alerts for earthquakes or tsunami.
And it is part of a trend as mobile phone alerts against possible floods or mudslides in heavy rain are increasingly issued in various parts of the country, local government and industry sources said.
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