Megaquake talk scaring tourists
Unfounded online rumours warning that a huge earthquake will soon strike Japan are taking a toll on travel firms and airlines who report less demand from worried Hong Kongers.
People from Hong Kong made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan in 2024.
Although it is impossible to know exactly when earthquakes will hit, fear-inducing predictions have spread widely among the city's residents.
Some of the false posts cite a Japanese manga comic, republished in 2021, which predicts a major natural disaster in July 2025 – based on the author's dream.
Other posts give different dates, while a Facebook group that claims to predict disasters in Japan has over a quarter of a million members, mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
'The earthquake prophecy has absolutely caused a big change to our customers' preferences,' said Frankie Chow, head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday.
Chow said that in March and April, his company received 70% to 80% fewer inquiries about travelling to Japan than last year.
Business as usual: This file photo taken on Feb 21 shows people walking past shops in the Asakusa area as the 634m-high Tokyo Skytree is pictured in the distance in the Japanese capital. — AFP
'I've never experienced this before,' said Chow, who also runs the booking website Flyagain.la.
While some people changed their destination, others 'did not dare to travel', he said.
Mild to moderate earthquakes are common in Japan, where strict building codes minimise damage, even from larger shakes.
But the nation is no stranger to major disasters, including in 2011 when a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Earthquakes are very rarely felt in Hong Kong, but some people are easily spooked by disinformation, Chow said.
Megaquake warning
In April, Tokyo's Cabinet Office said on social media platform X: 'Predicting earthquakes by date, time and place is not possible based on current scientific knowledge.'
A Cabinet Office official said that the X post was part of its usual information-sharing about earthquakes.
But Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily reported that it was responding to prophecies that sprung up online after a Japanese government panel in January released a new estimate for the probability of a 'megaquake'.
The panel said the chance of a massive earthquake along the undersea Nankai Trough south of Japan in the next three decades had marginally increased to 75% to 82%.
This was followed by a new damage estimate in March from the Cabinet Office, which said a Nankai Trough megaquake and tsunami could cause 298,000 deaths in Japan.
Despite being a routine update of a previous 2014 figure, the estimate appears to have fanned tourists' fears.
A YouTube video featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to visit Japan, published by local media outlet HK01, has been viewed more than 100,000 times.
Don Hon, one of Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents, does not entirely believe the online claims, but has still been influenced by them.
'I will just take it as a precaution and won't make any particular plans to travel to Japan,' the 32-year-old social worker said.
And if a friend were to ask him to visit Japan in July, Hon 'might suggest going somewhere else'.
No reason to worry
Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has reduced flights to Japan's southern Tokushima region, a local tourism official said.
'The company told us demand has rapidly decreased amid rumours there will be a big quake and tsunami in Japan this summer,' she said.
'Three scheduled weekly round-trip flights will be reduced to two round-trips per week from May 12 to Oct 25.'
The airline is also reducing its flights to Sendai in the northern region of Miyagi.
'There's no reason to worry,' Miyagi's governor Yoshihiro Murai reassured travellers, adding that Japanese people are not fleeing.
But 'if unscientific rumours on social media are impacting tourism, that would be a major problem', he said last month.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Hong Kong visitors in March stood at 208,400 – down nearly 10% year-on-year.
However, this decline was partly due to the Easter holidays starting in mid-April this year, instead of March, they said.
Hong Kong-based EGL Tours has not seen a massive decline in customers travelling to Japan, its executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said.
But recent bookings at its two hotels in Japan show fewer from Hong Kong guests, while the number from other global destinations remains stable.
In any case, in the likely event that the predictions do not come to pass, 'people will realise it's not true', he said. — AFP
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The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
On the edge of hope: Life on Philippines' quiet front line in the South China Sea
THITU ISLAND (South China Sea): Every morning at 7am, Filipino government worker Elmer Bania steps into his office and looks out the window facing the sea. Just beyond the horizon, he spots the grey and white silhouettes of Chinese-flagged vessels – uninvited yet expected. But the 62-year-old does not flinch at the sight. It's just another day on Thitu Island, where some 335 Filipino civilians live on the front lines of the South China Sea dispute. Locals call it Pag-asa, the Filipino word for hope. It lies about 500km west of Palawan Island province, within the cluster of atolls and reefs comprising the Spratly Islands that are claimed by six countries, including the Philippines. These contested waters, a major fishing ground that is also believed to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves, have long been shadowed by China's sweeping maritime claims. Filipinos have their own name for the Spratlys archipelago – the Kalayaan island group, meaning freedom in the Filipino language. For settlers like Bania, their presence on Thitu is a quiet act of patriotism. Hope, he tells The Straits Times, is both the name of his island home and a peaceful form of defiance in the face of a global superpower. 'We're not going to let China take over Pag-asa. This is our home! Filipinos do not yield to anyone.' Hope amid a sea of tension The Straits Times was among a handful of media outlets invited by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to join a rare five-day patrol across the Spratlys, a journey timed just before the country marks its 126th Independence Day on June 12. We flew in on a military aircraft that landed on Pag-asa Island's airstrip, then clambered into rubber boats to reach the naval ship waiting offshore that would take us around the rest of the Philippine-held features in the Spratlys. As we bounced over 1.6m swells, seawater drenched our gear and boots thudded against the deck with every hard landing. The journey was as unforgiving as the terrain, a visceral introduction to life in the South China Sea. The Philippines seized Thitu from Taiwan in 1971, after a typhoon forced the latter's garrison to retreat. Manila formally annexed the island in 1978 and opened it to civilians in 2002 in a bid to bolster its sovereign claim. Since then, a small but resilient community has taken root, coexisting with an undisclosed number of Filipino military personnel. Today, their lives are deeply intertwined. Civilians ride in military aircraft and boats for free. Soldiers help unload supplies, fix power lines and even build schools. In emergencies, residents rely on the military to fly them out. Life hums quietly these days on Thitu's 37 hectares, where fishing is a mainstay. Here, homes are patched together from plywood, cement and scrap metal. Fishing boats rest along the white sand beaches in the eastern shore. In the afternoons, children play dodgeball on dusty roads, while their fathers shoot pool and mothers watch their favourite dramas. Bania moved here in 2012 with his family, drawn by the simple, low-cost life that contrasted with the bustle and strife of his home town in Taytay, northern Palawan. 'There were only a few houses when I first came to Pag-asa, but I felt at peace. And the island is beautiful, so my family decided to stay here,' he said. But beyond the lull of island routines, tension simmers. Chinese ships are a constant presence, often shadowing local fishing boats, sometimes idling near the pier. Bania remembers the early days when Chinese vessels dredged coral reefs just a few miles offshore. 'We couldn't do anything then,' he said. 'We were too few.' Today, he says, civilians are more prepared. Male residents have received basic military training from soldiers stationed on Thitu. Visiting military officials sometimes hold lectures about the environmental and geopolitical issues involving their island home. 'The AFP trained us. If foreigners land here, we know what to do,' Bania said, recalling how locals once blocked the airstrip with fuel drums after hearing a rumour of a foreign plane landing. Even children on Thitu, like Bania's 14-year-old grandson Yans, want to serve the country. Born in Taytay but raised on Thitu, Yans dreams of joining the Philippine Air Force some day. 'I want to defend our motherland,' he told ST. The Banias are not scared if ever tensions flare between the Philippines and China, confident that Filipino troops will protect them. 'They won't let anything happen to us,' Bania said. La Vida Thitu The island's isolation comes with hard realities. All supplies are shipped or flown in. A single trip from the mainland can cost hundreds of thousands of pesos. Groceries are more expensive, and flights depend on the weather. Still, the Banias make it work. The family runs a small store, and both Bania and his wife work at the municipal hall. Their household income is modest, but it goes a long way on the island. Their teenage grandson attends lessons in a modest schoolhouse in a corner of Thitu, where 15 teachers oversee a cohort of half a dozen youngsters up to high-school level. Health services are limited. There is a health centre with a nurse and midwife on call, and a doctor occasionally visits from nearby Puerto Princesa City on the mainland. But for emergencies, residents must be flown out. Thitu Island was opened to tourists in 2023, marking another quiet milestone in its transformation from a remote military outpost to a slowly thriving community. A few residents have turned their modest homes into homestays, offering basic accommodation to visitors curious enough to see the westernmost edge of Philippine civilian life. Fishermen Fernan Lozada (left) and Roy Cajamco repairing their boat as construction works continue on Thitu on June 3. - ST/MARA CEPEDA For fishermen like Fernan Lozada, 36, who moved here during the Covid-19 pandemic, Thitu offered stability. Like Bania, he came from Taytay town on the mainland, where he struggled to find buyers for his daily catch from the bay. 'Here in Thitu, at least we can make a living,' he said. But he says fishermen now steer clear of the western waters off Thitu, where Chinese vessels often tail the local fishing boats. The area near Sandy Cay – a sandbar just two nautical miles away – has become particularly tense. In April, Chinese coast guard officers planted their national flag there, prompting Filipino sailors to return days later and raise the Philippine flag in response. 'We learnt to adjust to China. We're just small fisherfolk; we can't fight back,' Lozada said. A soldier's oath Filipino troops stationed across the Spratlys also endure isolation, spartan quarters and unforgiving seas – all in the name of defending Philippine sovereignty. Apart from Thitu, reporters embedded in the AFP's maritime patrol were able to set foot on West York Island, locally known as Likas, meaning natural in Filipino. At 18 hectares, it is the second largest Philippine-occupied feature in the Spratlys. Like in Thitu, the island is ringed by white sand beaches and scattered with low vegetation. But West York has no civilian life, only soldiers stationed in outposts cobbled together from timber and salvaged sheet metal. The scant force – the military does not disclose how many troops are deployed due to security reasons – relies on periodic resupply missions for food and water, though there is water from a deep well on the island. Power comes from a lone generator. Internet exists, barely – enough to send requisite messages or make short calls home. To pass the time, soldiers shoot hoops on a makeshift court where the backboard is little more than worn plywood nailed to rusted poles. Despite the remoteness and harsh living conditions, soldiers like Technical Sergeant Nino Calbog wear their deployment as a badge of honour. 'We took an oath to defend this land. This is part of our duty,' he said. That same resolve echoes across the ranks. An AFP spokeswoman, Colonel Francel Padilla, said it is vital for Manila to not only maintain a foothold in the Spratlys, but also steadily build on it. 'We have to really affirm our sovereignty in all the features that we have. We must maintain the presence of thriving communities in the area,' Col Padilla told reporters. Still a long way to go But resolve alone is not enough to effectively counter a more assertive Beijing. While China has transformed once-submerged reefs into sprawling military outposts that glow like cities after dark, the Philippines lags behind in this respect as budgetary constraints and logistical bottlenecks make tangible progress slow and costly. Development here comes in increments, not by leaps and bounds. But strides have been made. On Thitu, the Philippines has built a 1.3km runway, military barracks, a pier, beaching ramp and a sheltered port – modest but vital infrastructure for an island so far removed. Construction is ongoing for a runway extension, aircraft hangar, control tower, new government offices, a larger school and a synoptic station to improve weather forecasts. For now, Thitu Island remains a quiet front line for the Philippines, a sliver of land where civilians and soldiers hold the line with their resilient presence. And for Filipinos like Bania, that is reason enough to stay. 'I have already built a life in Pag-asa. My grandchildren are growing up here. We're already here,' Bania said. 'We're not leaving any time soon.' - The Straits Times/ANN
The Star
9 hours ago
- The Star
Megaquake talk scaring tourists
Unfounded online rumours warning that a huge earthquake will soon strike Japan are taking a toll on travel firms and airlines who report less demand from worried Hong Kongers. People from Hong Kong made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan in 2024. Although it is impossible to know exactly when earthquakes will hit, fear-inducing predictions have spread widely among the city's residents. Some of the false posts cite a Japanese manga comic, republished in 2021, which predicts a major natural disaster in July 2025 – based on the author's dream. Other posts give different dates, while a Facebook group that claims to predict disasters in Japan has over a quarter of a million members, mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan. 'The earthquake prophecy has absolutely caused a big change to our customers' preferences,' said Frankie Chow, head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday. Chow said that in March and April, his company received 70% to 80% fewer inquiries about travelling to Japan than last year. Business as usual: This file photo taken on Feb 21 shows people walking past shops in the Asakusa area as the 634m-high Tokyo Skytree is pictured in the distance in the Japanese capital. — AFP 'I've never experienced this before,' said Chow, who also runs the booking website While some people changed their destination, others 'did not dare to travel', he said. Mild to moderate earthquakes are common in Japan, where strict building codes minimise damage, even from larger shakes. But the nation is no stranger to major disasters, including in 2011 when a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Earthquakes are very rarely felt in Hong Kong, but some people are easily spooked by disinformation, Chow said. Megaquake warning In April, Tokyo's Cabinet Office said on social media platform X: 'Predicting earthquakes by date, time and place is not possible based on current scientific knowledge.' A Cabinet Office official said that the X post was part of its usual information-sharing about earthquakes. But Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily reported that it was responding to prophecies that sprung up online after a Japanese government panel in January released a new estimate for the probability of a 'megaquake'. The panel said the chance of a massive earthquake along the undersea Nankai Trough south of Japan in the next three decades had marginally increased to 75% to 82%. This was followed by a new damage estimate in March from the Cabinet Office, which said a Nankai Trough megaquake and tsunami could cause 298,000 deaths in Japan. Despite being a routine update of a previous 2014 figure, the estimate appears to have fanned tourists' fears. A YouTube video featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to visit Japan, published by local media outlet HK01, has been viewed more than 100,000 times. Don Hon, one of Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents, does not entirely believe the online claims, but has still been influenced by them. 'I will just take it as a precaution and won't make any particular plans to travel to Japan,' the 32-year-old social worker said. And if a friend were to ask him to visit Japan in July, Hon 'might suggest going somewhere else'. No reason to worry Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has reduced flights to Japan's southern Tokushima region, a local tourism official said. 'The company told us demand has rapidly decreased amid rumours there will be a big quake and tsunami in Japan this summer,' she said. 'Three scheduled weekly round-trip flights will be reduced to two round-trips per week from May 12 to Oct 25.' The airline is also reducing its flights to Sendai in the northern region of Miyagi. 'There's no reason to worry,' Miyagi's governor Yoshihiro Murai reassured travellers, adding that Japanese people are not fleeing. But 'if unscientific rumours on social media are impacting tourism, that would be a major problem', he said last month. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Hong Kong visitors in March stood at 208,400 – down nearly 10% year-on-year. However, this decline was partly due to the Easter holidays starting in mid-April this year, instead of March, they said. Hong Kong-based EGL Tours has not seen a massive decline in customers travelling to Japan, its executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said. But recent bookings at its two hotels in Japan show fewer from Hong Kong guests, while the number from other global destinations remains stable. In any case, in the likely event that the predictions do not come to pass, 'people will realise it's not true', he said. — AFP
The Star
16 hours ago
- The Star
A Mecca of wonders, friendships of strangers
'MALAYZIYA? Welcome! Welcome!' These words still ring in my ears – words I heard not just from eager shopkeepers in Mecca but also from the fierce-looking Saudi Arabian police guarding the holy city. For Muslims worldwide, travelling to Mecca for the Haj is an important journey that many save up for for years and that many more yearn for. The Haj is the fifth pillar of Islam and is compulsory for those who are able-bodied and can afford it. There are key rituals that must be followed, emulating the traditions of Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Abraham, and they can only be performed during the first 10 days of Zulhijjah of the Muslim calendar, culminating in Hari Raya Aidiladha. The festival, also known as Hari Raya Haji or Hari Raya Korban in Malaysia, is when Muslims sacrifice livestock such as goats, sheep, and cows, and share the meat with the poor. While the pilgrimage is a spiritual one, it is also a very physical one – one has to have the stamina to walk long distances, not to mention the patience to deal with the massive crowds of people from all over the world, all heading in the same direction. And yet the tenacity of the elderly and the sickly in completing the pilgrimage is unbelievable, showing how much our minds control our bodies. Tabung Haji chairman Tan Sri Rashid Hussain kindly invited The Star to join the Malaysian Haj authority's media team this year, and I'm grateful my bosses chose me. The journey is over and the whole experience still seems surreal – but also unforgettable. Having been to Mecca for my Umrah (small pilgrimage) 24 years ago did not help me once I got there, as everything has changed. Heavenly architecture The much-expanded Holy Mosque has astounding architecture – from gigantic intricately- patterned doors to (speaker- and aircon-embedded) pillars which take your breath away. The square black Kaabah (the focal point of Muslims when they pray), known as the first home, still stands majestically with its gold and black Kiswah coverings, but wearing a white band around it to signify that the Haj season is here. The white band around the Kaabah signifies that the Haj season is here. — AFP Mohd Saufi Lim Abdullah, 71, who converted to Islam 36 years ago, said that one should not wait to go on the Haj. 'The feeling of seeing the Kaabah in real life, something we can only envisage when we pray, cannot be described. For me, it is during Haj that I see humanity of all colours and races of the world,' says Mohd Saufi, who works in the oil and gas industry. High-end malls – truly a shopping paradise – and glitzy five-star hotels surround the Grand Holy Mosque that encases the Kaabah. Malaysian pilgrims are the most-sought after shoppers in the Holy Land. They are known as the most generous of pilgrims, as they hand out dates to other pilgrims and cash to cleaners and rubbish collectors. The Big Ben-like Mecca Clock Royal Tower stands proudly at 601m with its shadow on the Holy Mosque – the tallest clock tower in the world. The clock face is the largest in the world, and the top four floors of the clock tower house the Clock Tower Museum – from which one can get an amazing bird eye's view of the Holy Mosque of Mecca and the Kaabah. The Saudi Haj authorities this year further feted the international media with tours to many places of interests, such as the new expansion phases of the Holy Mosque, museums of Prophet Muhammad and the Clock Tower, the Quran Museum, and the Kiswa (cloth which covers the Kaabah) factory, all interspersed by international lunch spreads. This was part of the Saudi government's efforts to showcase other wonders of Mecca as a land with many other places of interest to enhance the pilgrimage. Reputation to uphold Malaysian pilgrims here are much respected as Tabung Haji, the only Haj fund of its kind in the world – has to date been awarded the best haj manager with the Labbaytum award for three years in a row. Exclamations of 'Malayziya? I like Malayziya!' at the checkpoints drew jealous stares from the other pilgrims as we were breezily allowed through. For a couple from Kedah – teacher Masni Malim, 43, and lecturer Ahmad Sharani Abdul Seliban, 44 – this pilgrimage is a result of her salary deductions for 17 years. The Haj costs for Muassasah Pilgrims (first-timers) include flights, transportation, accommodations in Saudi Arabia, food, Haj courses, medical expenses, and payments to the Saudi Arabian government. 'I felt so anxious when my husband and I were chosen to be guests of God this year in Mecca. 'When we first got news that we were shortlisted last September, we were very excited. We went all out for the preparations for Haj – I would wear sports shoes to school and walk and climb stairs to keep fit. 'I also had to prepare my children – including my three-year-old – and my mother, who would be looking after my four children, for the fact that I would be away for more than a month,' says Masni. Husband Ahmad says they prepared mentally and physically for months, with everything else going by in a blur. Being at home in Mecca Malaysian pilgrims are among the first to arrive for the Haj season. This enables them to easily acclimatise to the weather, food, and surroundings. By the time the Haj season actually starts, Malaysian pilgrims under Tabung Haji would have been in the city for 20 days or so. The food was always a hit with all the pilgrims. — Photos: ZAKIAH KOYA/The Star Kelantanese keropok trader Norhayati Yusof says her roommates, whom she has only come to know in Mecca, are her family here. 'We look out for each other when we go to pray and we do everything together,' says the chirpy Norhayati. Having known the place for a couple of weeks before Haj also lessens the fear of being lost during the gruelling days of Arafah, Muzdalifah and Mina during the key rituals of wukuf (standing in prayer), mabit (spending the night) and jamrat (stoning the devil). Pilgrims have to perform the key rituals within a certain period to ensure that their Haj is complete. Key rituals in comfort On June 4, one day before the Day of Arafah, the pinnacle of the Haj, we were ferried by buses to air-conditioned tents on the plains of Mount Arafat, then to Muzdalifah, and the next day to Mina for the stone-the-devil ritual. These facilities were set up by a local company, Al-Masiah, which liaises with the Saudi authorities on behalf of Tabung Haji. From meals akin to in-flight meals, a free flow of cold, bottled drinking water to modern toilets and comfy mattresses, nothing was spared to ensure pilgrims were comfortable. Teacher Zurina Mat Hussin, 60, from Terengganu, accidentally made history this season: She suffered heart issues and was saved by the Saudi Arabian medical team after going through an immediate life-saving cardiac catherisation. 'I cannot thank Tabung Haji and the Saudi health experts enough for what they have done for me,' says Zurina, who continued with her Haj rituals using the invalid initiative. About 38 other pilgrims who were invalids too were provided 'companions' to take care of them throughout the Haj. There were also 11 vision-impaired pilgrims this year. Sarifah Hassan, 57, whose husband Abdullah Mat, 59, passed away during this Haj, was all praises for Tabung Haji on the way they handled the emergency. Ten deaths have occurred among Malaysian pilgrims this season. It has to be mentioned that among the most hardworking of the Tabung Haji personnel are the local-born Malays and Thais in Mecca – they speak excellent Arabic, Malay, and English. From pushing wheelchairs to being drivers, the service they provide to Malaysian pilgrims is top-notch – and without ever missing a smile. As everyone tends to be in humble mode here, wearing simple clothing, all the men in their white double-towel wraps, there are no class distinctions during the Haj. Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, who was part of the Malaysian entourage, smiled sheepishly when another pilgrim Googled him and asked him if he was indeed who he was. And the wife of Datuk Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs), Datin Nik Roslini Raja Ismail was spotted carrying pilgrims' bags into the buses and taking photos for those who handed her their phones, not knowing who she was. Friendship of strangers At the end of it all, it is the camaraderie among the pilgrims of all races from all over the world – be they Malaysians, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Chinese, or the loud French-speaking African pilgrims, seated side by side in the Grand Holy Mosque that I remember the most. Enjoying the shade amid Mecca's high temperatures. Friendly groups quickly formed among the pilgrims. — ZAKIAH KOYA/The Star For those sorts of short friendships struck up between strangers who can only communicate through gestures and smiles is a beautiful thing to witness as pilgrims share their food. Even lovelier in my eyes were the 'conversations' among women pilgrims who chat not knowing each other's languages. As for Malaysian pilgrims, the Haj brings out the best in them, for back home we have already long practiced unity in diversity.
