Photo/Illutration Self-Defense Forces members provide water to residents of Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on March 18. (Etsuko Akuzawa)

Snow was forecast for the northeastern Tohoku region on March 19, adding to the misery of work to repair damage from the powerful earthquake three days earlier.

The Japan Meteorological Agency predicted up to 40 centimeters of snow in the plains of the Tohoku region facing the Pacific and up to 50 cm in nearby mountainous areas.

Agency officials also urged people to be vigilant against landslides triggered by snow and rain in areas where foundations were already weakened by the temblor that struck late on March 16. It registered an intensity of upper 6 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in parts of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

Around 43,700 households in the two prefectures, the hardest hit by the latest quake, were still without water as of 11:30 a.m. on March 18, according to the health ministry.

Many local governments are still in the dark as to when water supplies can be restored. Some local authorities set up special water supply stations and asked the Self-Defense Forces to provide water trucks.

Operations of the Tohoku Shinkansen line remain suspended along some segments as damage from the quake is still being assessed.

The disruption to transportation as well as direct damage from the quake dealt a heavy blow to the tourism industry in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

Some inns preparing to welcome guests over the three-day weekend that began March 19 had to shut their doors because of the damage from the quake.

Hotels still able to accept guests said they were now fielding calls to cancel room reservations. One hotel in the Akiu Onsen hot springs area on the outskirts of Sendai, the Miyagi prefectural capital, reported that 50 percent of its bookings over the three-day weekend were canceled.

An official with the Akiu Onsen lodging association expressed concerns that the economic impact of the quake could carry over into the Golden Week series of national holidays that begin in late April.

Airlines, bus and railway companies were also scrambling to provide special services during the three-day weekend to make up for the stoppage of the Tohoku Shinkansen line in some parts of the Tohoku region.

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