Tokyo: Japanese authorities today issued a rare evacuation order for 240,000 people in the country’s southwest over flood and landslide fears, as officials confirmed a man was killed in heavy rains.

The evacuation orders came after the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level alert for several parts of the northern Kyushu region.

The alert is issued ‘if there is a significant likelihood of catastrophes’ and is activated once a disaster is declared, ordering people to take measures to protect their lives. Nearly a million more people are under a lower-level evacuation advisory over the heavy rains.