Japan urged to provide earthquake tips to tourists amid surge in travel cancellations

The call by Japan’s travel industry comes after a 7.1 earthquake off Kyushu triggered fears of a far larger quake in the Nankai Trough

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A man at his home destroyed by fire in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture on February 1, one month after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto region. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 14 Aug 2024Updated: 3:10pm, 14 Aug 2024

With Japan on edge after a series of powerful quakes, concerns are mounting in the travel industry over a lack of crucial safety information for foreign tourists, who could be left vulnerable when the next disaster occurs.

A vast swathe of southern Japan – from the islands of Okinawa in the south to the mouth of Tokyo Bay – is on heightened alert after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck off the east coast of Kyushu on August 8. Experts have cautioned that the tremor may have been the precursor to a far larger quake in the Nankai Trough, a 900-km offshore fault.

Should a megaquake similar in scale to the magnitude-9 quake that struck off northeast Japan in March 2011 occur, the consequences could be devastating.

“I do not think enough information and advice is available in other languages for foreign visitors,” said Masaru Takayama, president of Kyoto-based Spirit of Japan Travel.

“At the moment, things like hazard maps for earthquakes, tsunami, landslides and so on are only available in Japanese in most towns because they have been designed for residents, not tourists,” he told This Week in Asia.

As a result, foreign nationals who do not speak or read Japanese will not understand what to do in the event of a major natural disaster, the evacuation routes they would need to follow or where they can get medical treatment or find shelter, according to Takayama.