TOKYO, 03 JULY - Torrential rains fell relentlessly on Wednesday in southeastern Japan, forcing the authorities to issue an evacuation order for over one million people. The directives concern first the prefectures of Kagoshima and Miyazaki, in anticipation of further precipitations that could cause severe floods and landslides. In the city of Kagoshima - which gives its name to the prefecture of the same name, almost all 590,000 residents have had to evacuate with elderly people forced to find refuge in emergency centers. For the second consecutive day the Japanese Meteorological Agency (Jma) has warned the citizens to remain on alert, due to a rain front whose intensity is not destined to diminish before Saturday. The town of Kanoya has recorded 81 millimeters of rain per hour on Wednesday afternoon, and some areas of Kyushu have seen in 24 hours an amount of rainfall equivalent to the monthly average.