Foreign embassies and other diplomatic missions were arranging transportation and offering advice for non-Japanese people affected by the recent Kyushu earthquakes as local officials struggled to get a handle on their situation.
"We are trying to reach municipalities to find out the numbers of non-Japanese evacuees," said a spokesman in the international division of the Kumamoto Prefectural Government. "It is difficult at the moment, given the confusion."
Kumamoto City International Center, which has assigned multilingual translators to one shelter, said it is sheltering roughly 30 foreigners, most of whom are non-Japanese citizens who live locally. It added that the shelter is safe and has enough supplies for now.