I know this is an old message but I decided to post it here because I reckon it will be good to have some record.
It was originally sent to my friends around the world.
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March 12, 2011 4:05pm
Tokyo, Japan
Hello,
Apologies for crossposting... and please feel free to forward this email in case I forgot to include anyone...
I am sending a mass email to thank everyone who has tried to contact me regarding the earthquake. I ended up crashing in my friend's place in Roppongi and woke up to the sound a random car driving around the city with an oversized megaphone notifying people to refrain from using electricity and gas because there is still a possibility of additional aftershock earthquakes hitting Tokyo and other regions in Japan. I was actually planning on snowboarding this weekend but I just saw on the news that not only the ski resort was completely destroyed by avalanches, but there are no more roads that lead to the place.
The entire country was in panic yesterday and most of the people had to walk home since there were no public transportation, gas, and in some areas, not even electricity. The mobile phone network was completely down throughout the night (still is) so we were having a hard time checking up on our friends. We all spent the night trying to contact each other to make sure nothing major happen to anyone. Fortunately I was able to contact most of my friends and although some of them had to walk for 10 hours to get home, they were all well sheltered without major injuries. Unfortunately, however, I still haven't been able to contact a friend of mine who lives in Sendai which is the city that was hit directly by the earthquake.
The tip of the Tokyo tower is bent, some buildings are crumbling down and the ground is shattering in some places. Large areas of Tokyo were built upon reclaimed land and they are usually the first ones to give. Fortunately most buildings in Tokyo are earthquake-proof and they withstood the magnitude 5 quake that hit Tokyo (8.9 in other places). Some cities in the Northern side of the country, however, were not as lucky and have either collapsed or are completely under water. Many people in Japan had to spend the night in cold warehouses and some in their cars. Apparently the quake that hit Japan was 700 times stronger than Haiti's recent magnitude 7.0 earthquake (more here -> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20042270-503543.html).
Radioactive leakage has been detected in one of the nuclear plants in Fukushima and there are some factories and power plants still on fire. As of right now, the fifth largest earthquake in history has already killed 300 people (100 by the quake itself and 200 by the flood) but there are 1000 people still missing. Tsunami Waves have already hit the US causing damage in Hawaii and in California so for those of you who live near the coast (SMC people included), please be safe.
Yesterday we all fell asleep hoping things would be different when we woke up today. Even though the sun rose just like any other day in "the land of the rising sun", many people woke up to face a sad reality. Some people were finally able to contact their family just to find out that their houses were completely destroyed or relatives went missing. Although we were all trying to contact each other to make sure everyone was safe, people in my lab/school, my supervisor included, kept sending work-related emails to each other throughout the night (this is really sad)... Not a single word on how people are coping with the earthquake. It really makes me reconsider my decision to get a PhD in Japan.
I am sure you have already searched for videos on YouTube but just to simplify your life a bit, these are the craziest videos I was able to find online....
This is the craziest one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctb4qTIIaQA
And more here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84kVUDP0wtc
And here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsHn3yvySQY
Some live footage here
http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv43019860
Trains are finally starting to run in Tokyo so I am gonna try to go home now.
At this point, I would like to send my condolences to everyone who lost houses, properties, and loved ones in this catastrophe. Please let me know if there is anyone else MIA and I will do my best to find them.
Thanks again to all of you who have thought of me and other people in Japan.
Cheers~!
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