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Japan issues emergency weather warnings as rains kill 1

Update 1: Adds detail throughout, updates headline

Tokyo, Jul 10 (EFE).- Downpours lashing southwestern Japan since the weekend have left at least one person dead and prompted meteorological authorities Monday to issue special weather alerts due to the risk of landslides and floods.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued heavy rain emergency warnings for the southwestern prefectures of Fukuoka and Oita at level five, the highest on the warning system.

It asked citizens to be extremely vigilant about landslides and possible flooding and move to evacuation sites, or to higher ground away from cliffs and rivers.

The alerts were announced hours after a woman in her 70s died after a landslide hit the home she shared with her husband, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

An hour later, authorities issued a new alert for the Oita prefecture, which has also been experiencing levels of rainfall that had not been seen in decades, and advised people to take extreme precautions.

In the city of Kurume, in Fukuoka prefecture, seven homes were trapped by a landslide that occurred when a nearby river overflowed its banks and which, according to local authorities, would have affected some 20 people, six of whom are still missing, while the rest were rescued.

At the weekend, authorities recommended the evacuation of 370,000 people and the suspension of regional and high-speed train services after rainfall of more than 100 millimeters was recorded over six hours.

This front that has been affecting the southern half of the Japanese archipelago has also caused particularly significant damage in Shimane prefecture, where 20 river overflows and 15 landslides were recorded. EFE

emg/tw/lds

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