Tokyo Electric Power Co. was aware of the need to take anti-tsunami measures at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant before the 2011 crisis, contrary to its claims regarding such hazards there, lawyers for plaintiffs in a damages suit said Thursday.

Yuichi Kaido, one of the lawyers, told the Tokyo District Court that an internal Tepco document dated 2008 shows the company "had clearly recognized as of that year that measures against tsunami were inevitable, contradicting the company's explanations so far."

The operator of the radiation-leaking plant crippled by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami has claimed during the trial and in other venues that it was not able to predict the massive tsunami.