One thing after another...

Well, I've been holding off on this post as quite frankly, I was still looking for people. On March 11, 2011 off the eastern coast of the Tohoku region Japan an 9.0 earthquake struck. This was further aggravated by a catastrophic tsunami and the looming threat of a nuclear meltdown. I've been spending the past few days practicing my multi-tasking skills: watching CNN, NHK, NHK-world, Asahi, Tokyo TV, Fuji and NNN simultaneously while scouring written reports for clues on what was going on. Initial information, especially from sources here in North America were frustratingly vague in the beginning (WHERE in Japan?!?!), and the mispronunciations didn't do anything to help suave my frayed nerves. After what felt like forever, I finally heard from most of my friends in Akita to be assured that everyone there was okay. The lack of power was hampering communication. There are lines for basic supplies. While they were shaken and stirred, everyone was okay. It appears that there were only some injuries in Akita. I am waiting on one more family to respond, but I'm hoping they're staying with family in a more secure building. My friends in Gunma, Chiba and Tokyo were also in similar situations. They were okay but their lives are a bit hectic due to the frequent aftershocks and blackouts. As one put it, "I need to go and make onigiris to prepare for the blackouts!"
The worse part was waiting on friends from Sendai and Fukushima. As the airwaves were flooded with horrific images, in combination with the lack of information from those area, the radio silence was brutal. Finally got words through friends that our Sendai friend was okay. Still not sure about my friend in Fukushima. I can only hope she has picked up and evacuated. Her city, Koriyama, was inland enough that she should have been safe from the tsunami, but with the aftershocks and nuclear threat I can't help but still feel uneasy...I can only tell myself that she's far away enough. According to Google Maps she's still outside the evacuation zone (she's about 70km from the plants). And I've caught snippets of Koriyama in the mountain of coverage. One person mentioned stopping in Koriyama for supplies on their way to Tokyo (stores open are a good sign, right?) And some of the footage of them checking people for radiation were also taken in Koriyama.
I guess, as much as I want to jump and a plane and start digging...All I can do is watch and hope.