January 17, 2025
HKers travelling to Japan urged to stay alert amid ‘megaquake’ advisory

The Hong Kong government has warned residents travelling to Japan to stay alert after the country issued a “megaquake” advisory in response to a 7.1 magnitude tremor last Thursday.

japan quakejapan quake
A red flag flutters in the wind as authorities warn against swimming at Shonan Bellmare Hiratsuka Beach Park in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo on August 10, 2024. Photo: JIJI Press/AFP/Japan OUT.

In a Chinese statement issued on Monday afternoon, the government noted that it was currently the summer holiday season and Japan was among Hongkongers’ favourite travel destinations.

“The SAR government reminds Hong Kong people planning to go to Japan, or who are in Japan, to stay alert, be mindful of safety, and pay attention to the Japanese government’s latest announcements,” the statement read.

Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture, in the country’s south, was struck by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Thursday. Videos showed photos of buildings and traffic lights shaking, although there were no reports of deaths or major infrastructure damage.

Shortly after, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its megaquake advisory and said the chance of a large-scale earthquake on the Nankai Trough had become “multiple times higher than usual,” Nikkei reported.

The departures hall of Hong Kong International Airport on December 28, 2022. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.The departures hall of Hong Kong International Airport on December 28, 2022. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
The departure hall of the Hong Kong International Airport. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The Nankai Trough is a 900-kilometre zone off the southwest Pacific coast where accumulating tectonic strains have the potential to cause massive earthquakes that could cause huge losses to life and millions of dollars of damage to property. In 1946, a magnitude 8 tremor in the trough killed over 1,300.

The advisory was still in place on Monday, according to media reports. Japanese authorities have asked over two dozen prefectures to check their disaster preparedness.

The Hong Kong government said in its press release that the city’s residents in Japan could call the Immigration Department’s hotline for help if they need assistance.

The city currently has a yellow outbound travel alert for parts of Japan due to nuclear accident at the Fukushima power plant due to an earthquake in 2011. There was no additional warning placed on travel to the country in relation to the earthquake last week.

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Hillary LeungHillary Leung

Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.

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