«Missile launch! Missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea. To the accompaniment of blaring sirens and emergency phone alerts, that was the terrifying loudspeaker message that jolted millions of Japanese awake in the early hours as North Korea blasted its second missile
«Missile launch! Missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea. Take cover in a building or underground.»
To the accompaniment of blaring sirens and emergency phone alerts, that was the terrifying loudspeaker message that jolted millions of Japanese awake in the early hours as North Korea blasted its second missile over the country in less than a month.
But for local residents on the flightpath over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, there was no question of this becoming a routine event.
«I cannot say that we are used to this. I mean, the missile flew right above our town. It’s not a very comforting thing to hear,» said Yoshihiro Saito, who works in the small fishing town of Erimo on Hokkaido.
«It’s pretty scary. I heard that it went 2,000 kilometres in the Pacific and dropped in the sea» where 16 of his ships were operating under the missile’s flight path.
Citizens in earthquake-prone Japan are well-drilled in seeking cover when emergency strikes but with only a matter of minutes from launch to impact, several residents voiced a feeling of helplessness.
«It’s really scary. The government tells us to flee to stable buildings but we can’t do that quickly. Our colleagues offshore can never take cover,» said Yoichi Takahashi, 57, a fisheries official in Kushiro on Hokkaido.
