A Hongkonger has described being “quite scared” as a 7.1-magnitude quake shook Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture where she and her boyfriend were travelling, while the city’s travel authority confirmed that about 200 members of tour groups visiting the region were all safe.
Leon Chan, 18, recounted to the South China Morning Post that she and her boyfriend had just got off a bus on the west side of Kumamoto city when the quake hit on Tuesday afternoon. The epicentre was about 20km (12.4 miles) to the south.
“Initially I thought the tremors were from a passing truck, but they gradually grew more intense, and the alert on my phone sounded,” Chan said, adding that the shaking continued for about 30 seconds.
“I was quite scared as I had never experienced something like this before in Hong Kong.”
According to NHK, at least two hospitals were each reported to be treating more than 50 injured people, some in serious condition.
Chan said she and her boyfriend went back to their accommodation only to find the electricity and water supplies had been cut and the place in disarray.
“The drawers were open, and items on the table had fallen onto the floor,” she said. “Then the aftershocks came, and they felt quite strong, so we went back out to an open space.”
At first, they thought of seeking safety in a nearby shopping centre where they hoped staff could tell them what to do, but the building looked unsafe and shops were closed, so they instead headed to a park, as they hunted for supplies.
“After going to a few convenience stores, we realised that they were all sold out of food and water,” she said.
Street vending machines were either out of operation due to power cuts or all the items were sold out, Chan added.
They were eventually able to buy a few bottles of water, snacking on protein bars they had stored earlier.
They had initially planned to fly back to Hong Kong on Friday, but Chan said they were now hoping to return quickly due to the risk of further aftershocks.
“But we need to take the shinkansen or intercity buses to reach the airport at Fukuoka, and those have stopped running,” she said, referring to the country’s high-speed trains.
Chan said they would rebook once public transport resumed and they had already packed.
The quake’s epicentre was about 20km (12 miles) south of Kumamoto, central Kyushu island’s largest city with a population of about 700,000.
Local media reported that many people were trapped inside the Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima town. An explosion had been reported, and the building’s second floor had collapsed.
Hong Kong’s Travel Industry Council said it preliminarily estimated that about 200 travellers were in Kyushu on 15 tour groups.
“All travellers are safe. Among them, one tour group’s itinerary has been disrupted,” executive director Fanny Yeung Shuk-fun said, adding that no requests for help had been received so far.
Steve Huen Kwok-chuen, executive director of EGL Tours, said a tour group comprising 15 members was travelling on a highway near Kumamoto, which had been damaged.
Huen said that all travellers had been reported safe.
Travel agency WWPKG said it had three tour groups with about 60 people in total in the Kyushu region.
CEO Yuen Chun-ning said a group was travelling on a coach between Fukuoka and Oita prefectures at the time of the quake, and members had received an alert on their mobile phones.
The Immigration Department said it had not received any requests for help from Hong Kong residents.
The department had immediately sought to understand details of the situation through the Chinese Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China’s consulate in Fukuoka, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Tokyo, the Travel Industry Authority and the Travel Industry Council, it said.
It would continue to closely monitor developments, the department added. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
