Warning of mega earthquake Thousands of tourists cancel hotel bookings in Japan
After authorities warned of a possible imminent mega earthquake, thousands of tourists canceled their hotel bookings in the affected region.
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- Thousands of tourists have canceled their hotel bookings in the western Kochi region in southern Japan.
- Scientists had previously warned of a possible imminent mega earthquake in the region.
- The week around the Buddhist Obon festival is usually a popular time to travel.
Thousands of tourists have canceled trips to the affected regions after Japanese scientists warned of a possible imminent mega earthquake.
According to a regional hotel association, at least 9,400 people canceled their bookings in the west of the Kochi region in southern Japan, which according to the warnings could be shaken violently. The week around the Buddhist Obon festival is usually a popular time to travel.
"Hotels are normally fully booked"
"Normally, all hotels and restaurants in our city would be fully booked at this time of year," hotel association spokesman Susumu Nishitani told the AFP news agency.
Cancellations for the period between August 9 and 18 alone would have resulted in hotel losses totaling around 140 million yen (around 827,000 francs). In the surrounding regions, thousands of further cancellations are expected.
The background to the scientists' warnings was a magnitude 7.1 quake off the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Thursday. This is where the so-called Nankai Trench runs off the coast in the Pacific, which stretches for around 800 kilometers to the Shizuoka region southwest of the capital Tokyo and where very severe earthquakes of magnitude eight or nine have occurred in the past.
First warning of its kind
The Japanese Meteorological and Seismological Agency (JMA) issued a warning on Friday of another, even stronger earthquake. It was the first time the JMA had issued such a warning since the creation of a new warning system following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011. In the worst-case scenario, experts estimate that another very strong earthquake could kill 300,000 people.
Japan, a country with a population of 125 million, is located in one of the most tectonically active areas in the world and has strict building regulations to ensure that buildings can withstand strong quakes. The island nation is shaken by around 1,500 earthquakes every year, most of which are not very strong.
