Japan adding cellphones to alert system

The Japanese government plans to automatically send messages to individual cellphones and cable TV stations to alert them to breaking disasters, officials say. The alerts will include evacuation instructions from local governments and reports from the central government's alert system, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday. The system could be used for emergency situations such as flooding or radiation leaks, even road conditions. The current system, inaugurated in February 2007, involves multiple layers of government and agencies. The entity initiating the alert notifies the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which sends a message via satellite to local governments. Those governments then relay emergency information to the public by loudspeaker. A test of the current system in September found equipment in about 280 cities either did not receive reports or did not send the alarm. A request for $62.6 million for the project has been included in next year's budget by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.