Another Country Heard From...

NOTE: CB and her husband S were at AIS last year. They are now in Narita Japan. Here is an email she sent to the AIS staff to let us know is okay. This is their second experience with a natural disaster. They were in the tsunami in Indonesia a couple years ago. They were separated for 8 hours before they knew where each other was located.

She writes:
Many of you may have heard, that at 3:00 pm, Japan experienced one of the biggest earthquakes in its history. The earthquake reached 8.4 on the scale. The last major earthquake in 1995, where 6000 people died, measured 7.9. We are all fine, and everyone in our community is okay as far as we know. There is severe devastation on the northeast coast and now tsunamis are a concern.

When the quake happened, Steve was at work, Tristan was at a friend's house as the elementary had no school today, and Alyvia and I were at home. When the quake began, I figured it was just another tremor (we feel them a few times a month) but it got progressively worse and I started to hear things falling in the house. I grabbed Alyvia out of her room and we hid under Tristan's bunk bed, protecting our heads. We had a number of things in our house fall, and Tristan's bookcase came close to tumbling down (need to anchor that to the wall), but other than that there was no damage. I cannot believe how much the house swayed. It felt like I was on a ski lift in a heavy wind. The quake lasted at least 2 minutes. As I held Alyvia I prayed hard. I do not think I have ever been so scared (next to my tsunami experience). Once the quake stopped, we went outside and found a number of people seeking refuge in open areas. Our neighbours told me that they have never experienced such a big quake. For the next hour there were aftershocks that were quite strong as well. I waited about 40 minutes and then made my way to school to ensure that Steve and Tristan (who I was supposed to meet at school at 3:30) were okay. Everyone was okay at school. Some of the kids who take the trains are unable to get home right now as the trains are not running. Getting a hold of families is also a problem as cell phone coverage is unable.

The Narita airport is still closed (it has been 2 hours since the quake hit). Japanese authorities are trying to access the damage right now. Please pray for Japan right now.

We're praying my friend...