Civil Protection Department

Earthquake in Japan: a second Italian team returned to Italy

Today, April 2, the second team of experts is back in Italy. The experts - sent to Japan last March 28 in support of the Italian Embassy in Tokyo and countrymen who are in Japan - had evaluation and management of emergencies tasks. The team, comprising officials of the Civil Protection Department, Fire Department, National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research and the Ministry of Health, was coordinated by the Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Activities of coordination between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministries of Health to monitor the Japanese situation, support from the Italian Embassy and the Italians in Japan, and the definition of any further activities and interventions carry on from Italy.

The team of experts has focused its activities in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. In particular, engineers have carried out a series of monitoring the presence of radioactivity in the area of the Embassy and elsewhere in the metropolitan area, such as Shinjuku, Akasaka, Meguro and Setagaya, home to many Italians. The experts are also available to our compatriots to provide information about the levels of radioactivity, the risks and possible radiation protection measures to be taken.

During the mission the Italian officials met with Japanese authorities for a discussion on needs and priorities in terms of assistance for medium to long term, and other European teams in Tokyo, to share information on methods and procedures used to monitoring of radioactivity and radiation protection possible.

The Italian team has remained in constant contact with representatives of European Civil Protection Mechanism and the international institutions engaged in support of the Japanese government