Travel Around the Pacific Disrupted by Japan Disaster

This is not an easy story to relate, as 24 hours after Japan’s greatest earthquake ever the aftershocks continue to rock the Island, and chaos dominates over the affected areas. Thousands of people are stranded in Japan, praying, for a miracle, hoping that no other calamity will hit what’s already an apocalyptic scene. The tragic natural disasters that hit Japan are a matter of worldwide concern, as Japan is battling to avoid a nuclear disaster.

World travel is also affected. Travelers around the Pacific were stopped in their tracks by Friday’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Hundreds of Japan-bound flights were canceled, and although Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport reopened about 12 hours after the disaster, other airports remain closed, and air travel is still out of the question for thousands of travelers around the world whose flights were canceled yesterday.

And air traffic is not all that’s been affected. Cruises were also forced to change course, to avoid meeting devastating tsunamis. Queen Mary 2, on its way to Nagasaki, nearly 800 miles southwest of the epicenter, had divert to its next port of call, Beijing. Hotels in Hawaii evacuated their guests, and the list could go on forever. In the light of these events, passengers are advised to avoid any nonessential travel to Japan.