Japan earthquake
8 April 2011
Travel advice
What is the WHO travel advice for Japan?
- At this time, WHO is not advising general restrictions on travel to Japan.
- However, travellers should avoid travel to the areas most affected by the earthquake and tsunami because of disruptions to essential services, such as transport and electric power. The ongoing disaster relief activities, including the nuclear power plant emergency response and control activities, will make travel difficult and could consume resources needed by relief workers and residents. Moreover, as indicated by the Japanese authorities, travel within the evacuation and exclusion zones surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is currently prohibited.
- In general, travellers who do not have essential reasons to travel should give careful consideration to deferring travel to any areas where there has been considerable disruption to the normal infrastructure and where authorities are responding to urgent humanitarian needs.
What are the precautions when travelling in Japan?
- Travellers should be aware of the risk of further earthquakes. Moreover, there may be areas with power, fuel, food and water shortages.
- Travellers in Japan should monitor local media, follow the advice and instructions issued by local authorities and register their travel and location details with their respective embassy or consulate.
- Information on the status of the nuclear facilities in Fukushima can be found on Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) website and on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) website. Additional information can be found on the WHO web site.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Do travellers returning from Japan represent a health risk for others?
At this time, only those involved in the emergency response near the nuclear power plant remain in the area where there are higher levels of radioactivity. For their own safety, all personnel in these areas should undergo decontamination procedures when they leave the site. Travellers returning from Japan who have come from the 20 km evacuation zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and who have undergone proper screening and decontamination procedures, and travellers from all other areas, do not pose a radioactive health risk to others and do not require screening.