Taiwan earthquake: Japanese tsunami warning leaves 1,100 Hong Kong cruise-goers stuck at sea for 3 hours

Captain of cruise ship heading to Ishigaki Island forced to wait in deep ocean for several hours after Taiwan quake triggered tsunami warning in Japan

Wednesday’s earthquake in Taiwan led to at least nine deaths and nearly 1,000 people being injured, with 34 Hongkongers reaching out to city’s immigration authorities

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The Resorts World One cruise ship in Japan. The passengers are expected to return to Hong Kong on Friday morning. Photo: Facebook/石垣旅行社行程優惠站

Published: 12:40pm, 4 Apr 2024Updated: 10:05pm, 4 Apr 2024

More than 1,000 Hongkongers were left stuck on a cruise ship in waters off Japan for three hours after an earthquake that hit Taiwan triggered a tsunami warning, a tour operator has said.

EGL Tours executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said on Thursday that a cruise carrying 1,100 city residents was scheduled to stop at the Okinawa prefecture’s Ishigaki Island at 11am on Wednesday, but waited for three hours before docking.

“Japanese authorities issued a tsunami warning for Okinawa after the earthquake, so the captain steered the cruise towards the deep ocean, which is safer,” he told a radio programme.

“The cruise docked at around 2pm after the tsunami warning was cancelled, and our guests could carry on with their itinerary.”

The tour operator said the passengers were sailing on the Resort World One cruise ship.

Huen said the vessel was scheduled to return to Hong Kong on Friday morning and that all the guests were safe.