Button’s girlfriend of three years, the Japanese lingerie model Jessica Michibata, was mid-photo shoot in Tokyo when the devastating earthquake struck off the coast of Japan.
The worst earthquake to hit Japan for 140 years, with a magnitude of 8.9 and sparking a massive tsunami, is expected to see a death toll of over 1,000 according to Kyodo news agency.
As news of the devastation broke, Button found himself unable to contact girlfriend Jessica Michibata.
As only after anxious hours of testing his Formula One car without knowing whether his girlfriend was safe in earthquake-hit Japan, he was able to spoke of his relief on hearing from his girlfriend on Friday, 11th March.
Button, the 2009 world champion, said he tried in vain to contact Japanese-Argentine lingerie model Jessica Michibata before she sent out a reassuring message on her Twitter feed hours later.
"I couldn't speak to the missus, to Jessie, because the phone lines weren't working in Japan," said the McLaren driver after wrapping up his final day of testing before the season-opener in Australia on March 27.
"The only way I could get in touch with her really was through Twitter because the telephone lines weren't working. I found out that she was okay.
"She sent me a text saying: 'How's testing going?" and it was like: 'Honey, that's not really the most important thing at the moment. How are you? How are you feeling?'"
Button, who has been dating Michibata for some three years, said the model had been doing a photoshoot in an underground studio in Tokyo when the biggest quake on record in Japan struck.
At least 1,000 people died when the 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami along the country's northeastern coast.
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