Emergency communication system
The JMA's earthquake early warning system, which uses seismometers, was able to alert millions of people across Japan about the coming earthquake using radio, mobile phone networks, including Docomo, AU, and SoftBank, and television, including both NHK channels and cable channels. The tsunami warning system alerted people soon after the earthquake, but the tsunami was larger than expected. In areas with infrastructure that was still working, even though telephone lines were not working well, the Internet was still working. In the hardest hit areas, especially Sendai and other areas of Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima Prefectures, satellite telephones were often the only type of communication that worked reliably. The following nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Plant was associated with many communications problems. There was no communications plan, internal communications were poor, external communications were slow, and the public soon would not trust TEPCO and the nuclear industry. The main criticism was a failure of the government to release accurate information about the disaster. Many people wanted the government to communicate more truthfully and quickly with future events.