Japan Evacuation Drills Held Under North Korea Nuke Clouds

A Japan evacuation drill was held by a town in the western part of the country on Sunday amid rising fear that a North Korean ballistic missile could hit Japanese soil. It was the second such drill and more are planned.

More than 280 residents and schoolchildren from Abu, a small town with a population of just over 3,400 on Japan's northwestern coast, rushed to designated school buildings to seek shelter after sirens from loudspeakers warned them of a possible missile flight and debris falling on them, reported The Associated Press.

The drill follows three consecutive weeks of North Korean missile tests. Last week, a missile splashed into the sea inside Japan's 200-mile exclusive economic zone off the country's western coast.

It was the second such drill since March, when Tokyo instructed local governments to review their contingency plans and conduct evacuation exercises.

A similar, city-organized drill was conducted Sunday in the neighboring prefecture of Fukuoka and others are planned over the next few months.

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