Residents of Fukushima and nearby prefectures evacuated quickly after Tuesday's powerful earthquake rattled the Tohoku region, drawing on lessons from the 2011 tsunami disaster that claimed thousands of lives in the same part of northeastern Japan.
After the quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.4, struck shortly before 6 a.m. off Fukushima Prefecture, about 30 residents of Iwaki evacuated to a local school, a designated evacuation shelter 700 meters from the shore, and gathered in classrooms on the third floor.
Nishikihigashi Elementary School in Iwaki urged its students by email to place top priority on taking refuge as emergency sirens wailed.