From fear to comfort: HK travelers touched by kindness during Kumamoto earthquake

A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday (Jul 28), causing widespread damage. But amid the chaos, small acts of kindness from strangers shone on social media, reflecting the spirit of Hong Kong people looking out for one another.

One Hong Kong woman visiting Kumamoto described a harrowing moment when the ground split open beneath her feet.

“The bricks I stepped on flew up, and hit my mouth and foot,” she wrote.

Photographs she posted showed shattered pavement stones heaped on sidewalks and collapsed stone barriers. She ended her post with a shudder: “All my luck was used up today.”

Another solo Hong Kong traveller was on the fourth floor of a Don Quijote discount store on the bustling Kamitori shopping street when the quake hit.

“It suddenly shook so violently that I couldn’t stand,” she wrote. She had planned only a day trip and had no hotel reservation. Luckily, a Hong Kong family she had never met offered her one of their two rooms.

“In that moment I felt loved. I wasn't alone,” she added. That post drew hundreds of supportive comments.

An 11-member Hong Kong group, stranded without transport to Fukuoka, posted a desperate plea on social media. Within hours, their post was shared hundreds of times, with strangers offering rental car contacts and local rescue information.

The earthquake also revived memories for a Hong Kong traveler who experienced a 7.3-magnitude quake in Kumamoto a decade ago. Back then, locals who spoke no Cantonese led him to a kindergarten, gave him water and food, and a driver eventually took him and three others to Fukuoka. This time, watching the same city shake again, he wrote simply: “I hope the people of Kumamoto can weather this crisis.”

As aftershocks continued, rescue teams fanned out. But for many visitors, what they will remember is not only the tremor, but also the hands that reached out in the dark.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓