Tokyo: Heavy rain from a seasonal front continued to hit intermittently northern areas of the Kyushu southwestern Japan region and the western part of the Chugoku western region on Sunday.

Some areas in the Kinki western region and the Tokai central region also had heavy rain the same day.

The seasonal rain front, which extends from the Tsushima Strait off northern Kyushu to the southern part of the Tohoku northeastern region, is expected to be static until Tuesday, possibly causing torrential rain mainly in the Sea of Japan side of the country.

The Japan Meteorological Agency put affected areas on alert for landslides, inundation of low-lying areas and flooding of rivers.

Rainfall totaled 65 millimeters in the city of Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu in one hour until around 9:55 a.m. and 62.5 millimeters in the city of Oda in Shimane Prefecture in Chugoku until 10 a.m. Asakita Ward of the city of Hiroshima, the capital of the namesake prefecture in Chugoku, had rainfall of 55.5 millimeters in one hour until slightly after 1 p.m.

Rainfall in the 48 hours until 5 p.m. topped 200 millimeters in the Shimane capital of Matsue, the city of Izumo in Shimane, the city of Tosu in Saga Prefecture, part of Kyushu, and the city of Hita in Oita Prefecture, also in Kyushu.

On Sunday evening, landslide warnings and evacuation orders were issued in some areas of Shimane, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Oita prefectures.

The atmosphere in eastern and western Japan continues to be unstable, and caution is needed for gusts and lightning strikes, the agency said.

According to a police station in the city of Shunan in Yamaguchi Prefecture, part of the Chugoku region, there was an emergency call from a resident around 4:15 p.m. reporting that someone was washed away in a local river.

Police officers and firefighters conducted a search but were unable to find the person.

Rainfall in the 24 hours until 6 p.m. Monday is forecast to reach up to 200 millimeters in northern Kyushu, up to 100 millimeters in Tokai, Chugoku and the Hokuriku central region, up to 80 millimeters in the Kanto-Koshin eastern to central region, and up to 60 millimeters in Tohoku, Kinki and the Shikoku western region.

JIJI Press