A crack in a farm road caused by an earthquake is seen in the town of Atsuma, Hokkaido, on Sept. 6, 2018. (Mainichi)

The government of the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido has launched a telephone consultation service in English, Chinese and Korean for foreign visitors and residents following the massive earthquake that struck on Sept. 6.

The service is available from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The telephone numbers are 011-204-5937 and 011-204-5092.

A similar service is available at the Sapporo City Call Center at 011-222-4894 in English, Chinese and Korean, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The center's email address is info4898@city.sapporo.jp

Meanwhile, the city of Chitose in southern Hokkaido has opened evacuation centers for foreigners. About 460 people have sought refuge at three facilities, two of which are already full. The third location is the Chitose Sports Center at 176-2 Shincho, Chitose. Some food, water and blankets are available for evacuees but power is not available as of 8 p.m. on Sept. 6, according to a city official. The center has a capacity of approximately 1,000 people, and about 60 evacuees were present as of 7 p.m. the same day.

A charging service for mobile phones is available near a solar panel close to Chitose Katsura Hospital at 97-2 Rangoshi, Chitose, from 8:30 a.m. through 5 p.m. Similar services are available at NTT Docomo mobile carrier shops in major cities in Hokkaido, including the prefectural capital of Sapporo. Their list is available here in Japanese: https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/info/notice/hokkaido/pages/180906_1_d.html

The Sapporo Municipal Government has also provided a list of evacuation centers for earthquake victims on its website at https://www.city.sapporo.jp/foreign/index.html (in English, Chinese, Korean and Russian)

(The Mainichi)