Thousands cancel trips in Japan after mega quake alert

TOKYO – Japan’s unprecedented mega quake advisory has prompted thousands of hotel cancellations in areas flagged as high-risk, dealing businesses a heavy blow in what would have been one of the busiest seasons, hoteliers said on Aug 13.

The weather agency said last week a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a 7.1-magnitude jolt in the south on Aug 8, which left at least 15 people injured.

The advisory, the first of its kind, does not mean a colossal tremor is imminent, but that the risk of such an event has now been elevated, if still low, the authorities have said.

Subject to the warning is the so-called “Nankai Trough” 800km undersea zone that runs from Shizuoka, west of Tokyo, to the southern tip of Kyushu island.

In western Kochi, among the regions projected to be hit hardest, at least 9,400 people have cancelled their hotel bookings since the alert was issued last week, according to a local hotel union.

The cancellations, covering the period Aug 9 to 18, amount to a loss of around 140 million yen (S$1.25 million) in revenue, union representative Susumu Nishitani told AFP.

The warning coincided with Japan’s annual “obon” holiday, a busy season for tourism businesses when many Japanese visit their home towns and pay their respects to ancestors.

“Normally, all hotels and inns in our city would be fully booked at this time of the year,” the union representative said.

Thousands more cancellations are expected in neighbouring Matsuyama city’s Dogo Onsen, one of the hot springs believed to have inspired animation company Studio Ghibli’s globally acclaimed film Spirited Away, public broadcaster NHK said.

The mega quake advisory is set to be lifted on Aug 15 if no abnormalities in seismic activity are detected, local media have reported.

“It is our hope that new reservations will start trickling in once the warning is lifted,” the union representative said. AFP