Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Embassy in Japan is preparing to evacuate 414 Indonesian citizens living in the Japanese prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate hit the hardest by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Friday.

The embassy had prepared steps, including collecting data on the Indonesian citizens who were fearfully trapped in the affected areas, the embassy said in a statement on Friday.

The embassy was making preparations to send a team of officers to quake-hit areas to find whether or not Indonesian citizens fell victim to the quake and tsunami, it said.

The other steps were opening hotlines for the Indonesian community to contact their relatives in Japan, coordinating with the local authorities and setting up temporary shelters in Meguro, Tokyo, it said.

Overall, there are 25,546 Indonesians living in Japan.

Indonesian Ambassador to Japan M Lutfi said earlier in the day embassy staff and their families had been coordinating to collect data and provide assistance for all Indonesians in Japan.

The major earthquake that triggered a tsunami also caused transportation, electrical and telecommunication failures in most parts of Tokyo.

The quake which was the strongest ever to hit the country also set a nuclear plant ablaze. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011