Japanese News Earthquake Vocabulary

Posted on 13. Mar, 2011 @ 3:41 am by in Language Views: 7,323

Image from Danny Choo via Wikipedia

Here’s a quick and dirty list of earthquake related Japanese vocabulary and their translations that often appear in the news. This is a work in progress. I will be adding more as I well, read more.

Hopefully this will help those people who want to keep up with what the Japanese media is saying about this incredible disaster.

Also, if you’re looking for a quick place to get some Japanese news stories, give http://allatanys.jp/index.html a try.

You can download a zip file containing MP3 audio for most of the terms here. Thanks to the team at The Japan Shop.com for doing the recording!

Structures

木造住宅 もくぞうじゅうたく homes built of wood
中層建物 ちゅうそうたてもの a mid-sized high rise building
空港 くうこう airport
港 みなと port
港周辺 みなとしゅうへん the area around the port
倒壊した家 とうかいしたいえ collapsed houses
倒壊家屋 とうかいかおく collapsed houses
建物の屋根 たてもののやね the roofs of buildings
瓦礫 がれき tiles and pebbles, debris

Energy

高濃度 こうのうど kounoudo High density
水位 すいい suii water level
計画停電 けいかくていでん planned power outage
核燃料 かくねんりょう nuclear fuel Link
使用済み用燃料 しようずみねんりょう shiyouzumi nenryou spent fuel (rods)
循環ポンプ じゅんかんポンプ jyunkan ponpu circulating pumps
循環させる じゅんかんさせる jyunkan saseru to make something circulate
核分裂 かくぶんれつ atomic fission Link
冷却機能 れいきゃくきのう cooling functionality
冷却機能が失われ れいきゃくきのうがうしなわれ reikyaku kinou ga ushinaware lost its cooling functionality
冷却水 れいきゃくすい cooling fluid/liquid
マイクロシーベルト micro sievert Link
電力不足 でんりょくぶそく lack of power
停電 ていでん power outage
発電所 はつでんしょ power plant
原発 げんぱつ nuclear power plant
東京電力福島第１原子力発電所１号機 とうきょうでんりょくふくしまだいいちげんしりょくはつでんしょいちごうき TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant No. 1 reactor
東電 とうでん Abbreviation for TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company)
燃料棒 ねんりょうぼう fuel rod (for a nuclear power plant)
燃料棒が全露出 ねんりょうぼうがぜんろしゅつ nenryoubou ga zenrosyutsu the fuel rods have been fully exposed
揚水発電所 ようすいはつでんしょ pumping-up generation
電力会社 でんりょくがいしゃ power company
蒸気 じょうき steam
節電 せつでん energy conservation, to conserve energy
供給不足 きょうきゅうぶそく insufficient supply
原子炉を冷やす機能 げんしろをひやすきのう the function to cool a nuclear reactor
格納容器 かくのうようき storage container (refers to the steel container housing the reactor)
容器を海水で冷やす ようきをかいすいでひやす cool the container with seawater
放射線 ほうしゃせん radiation (radioactive rays)
放射能 ほうしゃのう radioactivity
放射性物質 ほうしゃせいぶっしつ radioactive materials
発電施設 はつでんしせつ power plant facilities
ヨウ化カリウム ようかかりうむ Potassium iodide youka karyu-mu
イソジン いそじん povidone iodine (product name) isojin Link
ヨウ素 ようそ iodine youso
給水 きゅうすい water supply kyuusui

Rescue and damage

万人単位 まんにんたんい numbering in the ten thousands (people) Link
孤立 こりつ to be isolated Link
安否確認 あんぴかくにん confirmation of safety Link
安否不明 あんぴふめい unknown whether (they are) safe or not
安否確認が進まず あんぴかくにんがすすまず making no progress in regards to confirming the safety of…
炉心溶融 ろしんようゆう core meltdown Link
除染 / 除染する じょせん / じょせんする decontamination / decontaminate
爆発 ばくはつ explosion
爆発音 ばくはつおん sound of an explosion
水素爆発 すいそばくはつ hydrogen explosion
壊滅的な被害 かいめつてきなひがい devastating damage
救助ヘリコプター きゅうじょヘリコプター rescue helicopter
救助を待っている きゅうじょをまっている waiting to be rescued
被災者 ひさいしゃ victims/sufferers
被災地 ひさいち hisaichi disaster area
死者 ししゃ casualties
死者数 ししゃすう number of casualties
被害 ひがい damage
不明 ふめい unclear (missing people) 死者・不明1400人超 (more than 1,400 dead or missing)
行方不明者 ゆくえふめいしゃ missing persons
負傷 ふしょう injured
軽傷者 けいしょうしゃ people with light injuries
遺体 いたい dead bodies / corpses
遺体安置所 いたいあんちしょ mortuary Link
被曝 ひばく to be exposed to radiation
避難範囲 ひなんはんい evacuation area
避難住民 ひなんじゅうみん evacuated residents
救出活動 きゅうしゅつかつどう rescue operations
非常事態 ひじょうじたい hijyoujitai emergency situation
避難所 ひなんじょ hinanjyo evacuation site

Nature

東日本巨大地震 ひがしにほんきょだいじしん Literally… East Japan Great Earthquake Link
震度 しんど The strength of an earthquake (shindo, Japanese scale 0 to 7)
震度６弱 しんどろくじゃく Shindo 6 weak (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5弱, 5強, 6弱, 6強, 7.)
震度5強 しんどごきょう Shindo 5 strong (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5弱, 5強, 6弱, 6強, 7.)
大震災 だいしんさい Great earthquake
マグニチュード マグニチュード Magnitude
震源 しんげん The hypocenter (of an earthquake)
揺れ ゆれ to shake
地震 じしん earthquake
余震 よしん aftershock
津波 つなみ tsunami
山崩れ やまくずれ landslide
炎 ほのお flames
白煙 はくえん white smoke
黒煙 こくえん black smoke
海水 かいすい seawater
真水 まみず fresh water
海面 かいめん sea surface
内陸 ないりく inland
沿岸部 えんがんぶ coastal area
水没している すいぼつしている to be submerged in water
水没した車 すいぼつしたくるま submerged cars Link
引き波 ひきなみ “Drawback” in tsunami context. Also, backwash, riptide, undertow.

Transportation and vehicles

乗用車 じょうようしゃ passenger cars (regular cars, as opposed to fire trucks, ambulances, etc.)
消防車 しょうぼうしゃ fire truck
船舶が座礁している せんぱくがざしょうしている ships have run aground

Government and organizations

気象庁 きしょうちょう Meteorological agency
自衛隊 じえいたい Japan Self Defense Force
国際原子力事象評価尺度 こくさいげんしりょくじしょうひょうかしゃくど International Nuclear Event Scale (INES)
警察庁 けいさつちょう National Police Agency

Place Names

宮城県 みやぎけん Miyagi prefecture
南三陸町 みなみさんりくちょう minamisanrikuchou (In Miyagi prefecture. Devastate by the tsunami.)
岩手県 いわてけん Iwate prefecture
福島 ふくしま Fukushima

Others!

〜が相次いでいる あいついでいる blah blah is occurring over and over again
恐れがある おそれがある may occur (something negative) e.g., 停電が続く恐れがある the power outage may continue.
半径3キロ はんけいさんキロ a radius of 3 kilometers
命を落とす いのちをおとす to die (to lose life)
待機 たいき to wait
状況の把握が難航しており じょうきょうのはあくがなんこうしており difficult to understand the (actual) situation Link
市街地 しがいち urban areas
拡大する見通し かくだいするみとおし expected to increase/expand
未曽有 みぞう unprecedented
必至 ひっし inevitable Link
甚大 じんだい serious jindai Link

I hope this is helpful! Let me know of other words that you think should be added in the comments!

- Harvey

Related Links:
This 実用日本語表現辞典 feed has useful vocabulary in Japanese with Japanese explanations. (Thanks @ClaytonianJP)

A translation of some key terms from the feed, by @ClaytonianJP.

If you need help translating the Hiragana into Romaji (English characters) try www.romaji.org. Thanks to @ChrisJValdez for the heads up.

For more romaji help you can also try this method. Go to http://translate.google.com and translate from Japanese to Japanese. Then hit “read phonetically”. Thanks to @koorogi for that tip!

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Newer Comments →
  • http://yakihito.blogspot.com/ Adam

    Thank you.

  • http://www.tomii.se トミー

    被災者 should be ひさいしゃ, not　ひざいしゃ. Maybe you could add some more words, such as 瓦礫（がれき）etc.?

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks! Fixed it, and going to add your word.

  • http://www.tomii.se トミー

    どういたしまして！

  • http://nihongo-ga-wakarimasen.blogspot.com/ 風

    ありがとうございました。

  • http://twitter.com/dgakane Daigo

    Well done! :)

    Small correction: 揚水発電書 -> 揚水発電所

    揚水発電所 is a difficult word even for Japanese.
    In many cases, we use 水力発電所 instead.
    http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E5%8A%9B%E7%99%BA%E9%9B%BB

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks, fixed it!

  • Tom

    Nice post!

    Also a bunch of Japanese terms explained in Japanese at:
    feed://www.practical-japanese.com/feeds/posts/default

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks! There was already a link to that same site at the bottom of the post. This is a great resource!

  • Mark

    Just a quick fix– 孤立’s hiragana is koritsu, not kokuritsu! kokuritsu means national (国立）. Nice resource!

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks! Got it!

  • yoshi

    ちょっとだけ。

    供給不足　きょうきゅうぶそく　爆発音　ばくはつおん　拡大する見通し　かくだいするみとおし

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Got it! Thanks! :-)

  • Zakkuuu

    Hi, very useful list, thanks!

    Is it okay if I upload a shared anki deck with the words? I will of course put a link back to this article in the description, :)

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Sure please do that! :-)

      • zakkuuu

        Okay, I incorporated the suggestions made by Wiella below and uploaded the deck.

        If anyone’s interested, it should be available under the recently shared decks in Anki. Or try searching for “earthquake” or “japannewbie”.

        • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

          Hey zakkuu, I am still adding stuff to the list. I am adding them all mixed in trying to keep similar terms next to each other. I know that makes it hard to keep the Anki Deck up to date, but sorry about that… Thanks for the deck though it’s good stuff!

  • Wiella

    Please correct some words.
    原発　דげんはつ”, ○“げんぱつ”
    除染　○“decontamination”, decontaminate = “除染する”
    震度6弱 is not “about shindo 6”.
    Shindo scale; 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6弱, 6強, 7弱, 7強.

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Got them, thanks Wiella!

      • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

        Wiella, seems your Shindo info was incorrect. See Kenji Iguchi comment below. I readjusted it to reflect his comment.

        • Wiella

          Sorry for incorrect info. I’m not professional about Earthquake.

  • Clara

    Thanks for this vocabulary, I really will need it because I have to many friends there… >_<

  • Cassie

    Thank you for this. I’ve been sitting in front of the TV with a dictionary in hand for the past few days trying to look things up as they’re said — and a lot of these words (especially the scientific nuclear-related ones) just aren’t in it. This is incredibly helpful.

  • Kenji Iguchi

    The shindo scale is a bit off.
    The correct shindo scale is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5弱, 5強, 6弱, 6強, 7.
    5 and 6 has strong/weak variants while 7 does not.
    See: http://ow.ly/4dHGF

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks! Fixed it!

  • Staff

    can you provide the romaji for the Japanese words so some people can more easily pronounce it correctly? Thx

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      If you need help with romaji, stick the Japanese into http://www.romaji.org. I just don’t have time write out the romaji as well.

  • Laz

    I’ve also been sitting in front of the TV (NHK) the past few days　(in my case I’ve been looking up many of the words at the jisho.org online Japanese-English dictionary website). I really appreciate this.

  • http://authenticjourneys.blogspot.com Jennifer Kumar

    Wow this is a great and useful article. I am curious, for those unable to read Katakana, Hiragana or Pictographs, can you add a column of transliteration as well?

    This is a great post, and I will surely pass it on!

    Jennifer Kumar, Cross-Cultural Coach at Authentic Journeys

  • Ses

    This is extremely helpful!
    Thank you!

  • Ayuku

    Thank you! This is very helpful.

    I came across this word, while watching the news:
    給水 きゅうすい water supply

  • Leonard

    Hey, any idea if there’s a translated website showing the area sectors in japan especially in tokyo on the timing schedule of the electricity cut??? Really appreciate it.. Thanks

  • RobbieinTokyo

    Can you translate ‘iodine’ and ‘potassium iodide’?

    Is iodine the same thing as the gargling stuff イソジン?

  • Michael Z.

    I want to repeat the request made by “staff” that your list be put in Romaji. I work with people who may be sent to the affected region shortly who do not have much Japanese language capability. This would make things a bit easier for them to communicate. Thanks!

  • Tri

    Can you add in how you say those?

  • yoshiee

    揚水発電 ようすいはつでん Pumping-up generation
    yousui hatsuden

    揚水発電所 ようすいはつでんしょ Pumping-up generator station
    you-sui hatuden sho or you-sui hatuden jo

    所 is commonly used kanji for describe a place where something is done.

  • yoshiee

    iodine ヨウ素 ようそ youso

    イソジン is a povidone iodine

  • Naoshi Kurashita

    Harvey,

    Thanks very much for your great work!!

    A few suggestions to make this list much better,
    according to the entries of “Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dictionary(5th Ed.)”:

    中層建物
    ちゅうそうたてもの
    a medium-rise building

    揚水発電所
    ようすいはつでんしょ
    pumping-up (hydraulic) power station

    Cheers!
    Naoshi Kurashita

  • yoshiee

    Potassium iodide ヨウ化カリウム ようかかりうむ youka karyu-mu

  • http://n/a Andrew Mills

    Great job. I have AsahiTV on one screen and BBC on the other. Thank you to everyone concerned with creating/disseminating this glossary.

  • dutchie

    Harvey,
    thanks, this is really, R E A L L Y useful! I’m sure i’m not the only one watching Japanese TV 24/7 to find out the latest news on the reactors, only to be constantly reminded that i don’t have a clue what they’re saying. If I can’t understand the pearls of wisdom from variety shows, hey, no problem, but i DO want to know the words for “meltdown”, and “imminent” (^-^)!!

    For people with an iphone, if you download a free app called PDF Reader Lite 1.5, you can copy Harvey’s text to a wordprocessing application, export it to a PDF file, send it to your iphone, open it with PDF Reader Lite, and then you can do a word search within PDF Reader Lite, both in English and hiragana. If you can catch what they’re saying, which with unknown words is still really hard for me, especially vowel length (e.g.:o vs ou), it’s a nice shortcut.

  • http://n/a Andrew Mills

    For those wanting decent info about the Fukushima nuclear situation, here is a link to a scientifically credible (though pro-nuclear-biased) explanation of what’s going on. I got there by following Paul’s link to TELL above:

    http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/

  • Ben Novinger

    Truly outstanding job with this compilation. I found one other small error放射生 should probably be 放射性. I often get that 変換ミス. Thank you for taking the time to create this site.

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Got it, thanks! I would never catch all these without you guys. I really create this thing in a rush.

  • 菅直人

    南三陸町の「町」の読みは「まち」じゃなくて、「ちょう」です。

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Got it thanks!

  • http://surrealu.blogspot.com claytonian

    I’ve started translating some from that Japanese site onto my blog.

  • http://www.yobt.com/hentai.html Esther

    Much appreciated, i’m a beginner in the language and too passionate about Japan, this is quite helpful!thanks

  • http://www.freelancingintokyo.com David Chester

    Thank you so much for posting this. I run a site called “Freelancing in Tokyo” and your site is filled with so many helpful tidbits. I’m going to link to this page. This is an invaluable resource. Thank you!

  • Wiella

    Great Job!
    This word may be useful.
    建屋　たてや　structure for housing heavy machinery　(意味) 建築物。特に工場などの建物。

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Wiella, thanks! Actually I saw that word but wasn’t exactly sure how the western media was translating it. I kind of think it might be their idea of “containment vessel.” What do you think about that? I’m not a nuclear expert either so not sure!

      • Wiella

        「建屋」は土木の専門家が使う言葉です（私はその専門家ではありません）。原発以外にもダムや工場etcでも使われます。
        たとえば、格納容器そのものではなく、それをおおう建物の部分を意味します。
        福島第一原発1号機の「建屋」は爆発しました。しかし「格納容器」は爆発していません。

        “Tateya” is a word that the specialist of engineering works uses (I’m not a nuclear expert). It is used by dam and factory etc besides the nuclear power plant.
        For instance, it means the part in the building with which containment is covered. “Tateya” of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant No. 1 reactor exploded. However, “Containment” has not exploded.

  • http://namakajiri.net/nikki Leonardo Boiko

    That’s a fairly complete list, thank you.

  • Dwight

    揚水発電所 and 水力発電所 are not the same. The former is a system of pumping water uphill using power generated at night, when demand is low, by a nuclear power plant that operates at a steady rate. The water can then be released downhill to generate hydroelectric power. Wikipedia calls this “pumping-up generation,” which makes sense. There may be a better translation. But “hydroelectric power plant” (水力発電所) is not accurate for 揚水発電所, and “hydraulic power plant” would not be correct for 水力発電所. I don’t fully understand the distinction, but “hydraulic power” and “hydroelectic power” are different.

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      THANKS I changed the translation of 揚水発電所 to pumping-up generation.

      Never would have caught that myself. Thanks a lot.

  • L.V

    Didn’t check very politely, sorry if you have something in the following list already but as I didn’t notice, I would add:
    (necessary to grasp what happened:)
    倒れる
    落ちる
    落下する
    崩壊
    全滅
    壊滅

    (for emergency:
    非常
    非常事態
    非常口

    避難所
    避難所はどこですか？

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks! Added some of those.

  • 江戸っ子

    if you’re bi-lingual and want to do something useful here is a big call for volunteer translators for you:

    ———- 転送メッセージ ———-
    From: Fuess, Harald
    日付: 2011年3月16日15:45
    件名: EAJS-L: earthquake translators needed
    To: “eajs-l@eajs.eu”

    Here is information of a group that is searching for volunteer translators to help with coping with the earthquake.

    東日本大震災救援、「通訳ボランティア」募集！！！
    （この募集は、ご友人・知人にも、なるべく多くご転送下さ い。）

    各位
    この度の「東日本大震災」による甚大な被害につき、外国からも 多数の救援チームが駆け付けて下さっています。
    しかし、生き埋め・行方不明者捜索や負傷者治療等の様々な現場 において「通訳」が絶対的に不足しています。
    そこで、（国家資格）通訳ガイドや医療通訳士、航空会社JALのOBや一般の方々で語学堪能な方に、
    一人でも多く「東日本打大震災・ボランティア救援隊・通訳チー ム」に応募して戴きたく、何卒よろしくお願いします。
    ボランティア募集条件は、日本政府の指示に従って、16日（水曜日）以降、いつでも出動可能な元気な方で、年齢・性別などは問いません。
    但し、できれば、英語・中国…語・韓国語・ロシア語・フランス語に得意な方を望みます。

    恐れ入りますが、応募して戴くボランティアには、報酬を始め、 交通費や食費についても支給約束はできませんが、善意の救援活動志願者を募集します。

    ★救援隊・通訳チーム本部事務局
    東京通訳アカデミー・学院長・岡村寛三郎
    岡村寛三郎の携帯電話090-9097-7613　　Email：okamura3@oksemi.co.jp
    JGC&TIA事務局・藤上理奈、Email Address：fujigami@coolworldexpo.co.jp
    〒101-0052東京都千代田区神田小川町2丁目6番12号 東観小川町ビル8階
    ☎03-3233-7518 or 03-5577-6293　Fax.03-3294-7410

    ★応募者は、至急、下記の事項をEmail又はFaxにて、上記の岡村寛三郎又は藤上理奈までお知らせください。

    お名前、性別、年齢、得意な外国語、〒と住所、連絡電話番号 （固定式電話）、携帯電話番号、 Email　Address：

    平成23年3月14日 月曜日
    東京通訳アカデミー・学院長・岡村寛三郎
    NPO日本通訳案内士連合(Japan Guide Consortium＝J.G.C.)理事長
    一般社団法人日本メディカルツーリズム協会・副理事長

    _______________________________________________
    EAJS-L mailing list
    EAJS-L@eajs.eu
    http://lists.eajs.eu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/eajs-l

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    Hey everyone. I added a link to an archive with audio files for many of the words in the list now. Check it out. Will also link those files to the page eventually.

  • @Nizhniynovgorod

    This is great. I’ve tweeted it hoping that Japanese people may also find it useful.

  • kolin

    The nuclear reactor situation does not seem to be improving. Hope it will soon. They are now teaching kids in Japan about the situation through this cartoon
    http://www.japansugoi.com/wordpress/cartoon-explaining-the-fukushima-nuclear-reactor-problem-to-kids/

  • Emma

    I would add
    循環ポンプ　じゅんかんぽんぷ　
    the water ”circulating pumps” they’re hoping to bring back online when the electricity gets connected.
    Maybe also
    循環させる

    • Emma

      Also
      使用済み用燃料　しようすみねんりょう　spent fuel (rods)

      • Emma

        *しようずみねんりょう

        • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

          Thanks! Added.

          • Emma

            ack! I put an extra 用　in the kanji. Sorry!
            it should be 使用済み燃料

  • http://www.eddielandsberg.com/blog Eddie Landsberg

    Harvey, I live in Tokyo… Your post on EARTHQUAKE vocabulary is the most useful resource I’ve come across… I really appreciate that you posted it !!! Thanks… I’m going to spread the word and mention it on my FACEBOOK book page and blog.

  • Marco

    I suggest adding 被災地 (hisaichi), “disaster area”

    • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

      Thanks man, just added it!

  • Marco

    Miscellaneous
    半径２０キロ〜ハンケイニジュッキロ A radius of 20 kilometers

    Places hit by the disaster
    気仙沼市〜ケセンヌマシ Kesennuma city
    ＊浜通〜＊ハマドオリ Along the coast of *

  • Kat Tanaka Okopnik

    建物の屋根 たてもののやね the roofs of buildings

    Minor typo: たてものやね (extra の needs to be removed)
    For those non-Japanese readers – tatemono no yane

    Harvey, this is a wonderful resource, and I’ve been passing it around. Would it be useful to you to have someone (yes, I’m volunteering if so) to do the romaji-ification? (I absolutely support the idea that your time is precious, and that romaji.com will help in the meantime.)

  • http://j78.blogspot.com ジョン

    Fantastic and useful list. So many good words to know. ありがとうございます。じゃ、覚えておきましょう。

  • dan keike

    This is a fine resource! I already started compiling my own list last week while following the quake situation, but this list expands that twice over! I can now get a grasp of what my Japanese colleagues are saying besides the media broadcasts. This will help when I talk and listen to my students who have been enduring this whole time.

  • http://www.mywebncontrol.com Jim Nelson

    I really appreciate where you have added the Romaji in a column next to the hiragana as it is sometimes difficult to see read the font of the hiragana which doesn’t appear very clear. Also, it is very helpful when sharing this resource with non-Japanese speakers who can sound out the Romaji at least. If you don’t mind adding this information to your table it would be very helpful! Doumo!

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