Sunday, March 27, 2011

Tōhoku Earthquake

Well, it's been awhile since my last post and almost three weeks now since the biggest earthquake in the recorded history of Japan. The dust has definetely not settled and the results of this horrific natural disaster will be evident for years to come, as many towns and villages must start over, and families try to rebuild their homes and lives, with many of their family missing.

Fortunately, as you all know by now, my new home here in the land of the rising sun is nowhere near Sendai, but the impact of what has happened still hit just as hard mentally and emotionally. Upon hearing the news, it was only an explanation as to why my mobile phone suddenly stopped working that Friday afternoon. I heard about it about two hours after, and went on to finish my day and teach the remaining three classes I had. It wasn't until the drive home at about 8:30pm, that we were able to see the footage on the TV in the car when we were stopped at red lights. The feeling of knowing this is happening so close to me is indescribable. We've all seen footage of earthquakes and hurricanes around the world, and everybody says the same thing 'Oh that's so terrible'. Growing up in the Canadian prairies, the worst I've ever had to endure is a bad snowstorm and -60C weather. When something like this happens, it sometimes takes awhile to sink in. It wasn't until I was home in my apartment, checking my facebook and e-mail that the reality of it set in. As my friends and family around the world awoke to a bright new day and heard of the news of what happened here while they were sound asleep safe in their beds, I began receiving more and more messages asking if I was OK. Upon turning on the TV, every single channel was covering the earthquake, resulting tsunami, and other issues caused by it, such as the nuclear power plant issues in Fukushima. In the corner of every screen was a map of Japan, with nearly all of the coastline flashing different colours, to show who had tsunami warnings and of what severity. My coast is an inland sea in Southwestern Japan and until Saturday evening, we even had warnings of small tsunamis. I didn't understand 98% of what was on the TV, which made it even worse.

The 9.0 quake happened March 11, 2011 at roughly 2:46 p.m. Lasting around 6 minutes, it was an incredibly long, and strong earthquake. So strong in fact, it was felt as far away as Beijing, China, and has permanently moved all of Honshu island roughly eight feet towards North America. The quake itself happened about 72 km from the coast, which triggered a tsunami as high as 77 feet, which reached up to 10km inland, sweeping away homes, buildings, schools, animals, vehicles, and people. It is impossible to imagine seeing it coming towards you and knowing there is nothing that can be done to escape it. Today, over two weeks later, the death toll is over 10,000, with over 16,000 still missing and nearly 3,000 injured. The number of people it has affected is over five times the population of my hometown. There are whole towns missing, wiped out forever. Japan is a country which has grown used to earthquakes, and they have been expecting 'the big one' for years. The infrastructure across the country is designed to survive earthquakes, but no amount of technology can ever be prepared for a disaster such as this. The people of Japan got a one minute warning, which may seem like nothing, but in fact managed to save many thousands, if not millions, of lives. The aftershocks are said to last a few months, and in the days following the quake, some aftershocks were rated 6-7; as strong as the quake in Christchurch less than one month prior that brought that city to its knees.

The weekend after the quake was filled mainly with watching my TV which sometimes reported in English, and trying to find out information online. Waking Saturday morning, I almost thought it had been a bad dream until I turned on the TV again. As my computer was sometimes not charging properly ( I don't know if this is due to the quake or not, it's been working fine since), there was an 8 hour span when I had no idea what was happening, and could not speak to anybody outside of Japan. At times I would burst into tears because I didn't know what to do, whether I should leave Japan right when I had got settled, or not. The paranoia in me made me fill my tub with water so that if there was a complete nuclear meltdown I would have an uncontaminated supply of water. I also went and bought another 5kg bag of rice and face masks. Thanks to my brother, I also researched KI pills and geiger counters when my computer was working, along with registering with the Canadian government to get regular updates, and researching flights. I have friends who were teaching up north and left for the south, but have returned in the past few days. The fact is the Japanese government is extremely conscience and aware of the Japanese people's safety, and this is their number one priority. This is not going to be another Chernobyl (even if it was rated as a 6), because this is not the Soviet Union. And if anything does happen, the winds of Japan are westerly prevailing, meaning the majority of radiation will be carried out to sea, far far away from me. At least, this is what the gaijins who remain keep telling themselves. 15% of energy in Canada is from nuclear power. We are fortunate that we can use other methods due to our natural resources. The fact is Japan has virtually no natural resources and a huge population in a small area, therefore nuclear power will continue to be used.

I appreciate everybody's concern and support in the weeks following the quake. At this point, it's all I'm bombarded with 24-7, everywhere I go, and it's the last thing I want to talk about. But let's remember what the real problem is and leave the nuclear power plant in the hands of the capable experts. The real issue is rebuilding these communities, rescuing injured animals, finding the bodies of missing people, and insuring the survivors have food, water, shelter, and medical attention. Remember, these aren't just faces on a TV screen on the other side of the world. These are people's parents, spouses, children, siblings, best friends, and grandparents. And they're now my neighbours. Any little bit you can spare will help. Communities all around the world are holding fundraisers. I know we all are busy with our modern lives, but if you can spare a few dollars, please do. If Kim Jong-il can find it in his heart, surely you can too. :)

On a lighter note: I think I bought incontinence pads rather than feminine pads.