A record downpour Wednesday morning in the area of Setouchi on Amami-Oshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, prompted the city to recommend all of its 5,500 households — 10,000 residents — to evacuate.
No injuries had been reported, according to local police.
Rainfall measuring 143.5 mm per hour through 9:08 a.m. Wednesday was observed in the town, marking the ninth-largest recorded rainfall per hour in the nation's history.
Its neighboring municipalities, including the city of Amami, were also hit by heavy rains — more than 120 mm per hour, according to the Meteorological Agency.
The Kagoshima Prefectural Government said that by noon Wednesday, a total of 148 people in Setouchi and Amami had evacuated their homes.
According to local police, the rains also prompted a landslide in Setouchi around 8:30 a.m., pouring mud into a medical clinic in the town. Eighteen patients were in the clinic at the time, but no one was reported injured.
The area also suffered heavy rain last year leading to flooding and the closure of a tunnel in Amami.
