TOKYO -- Sendai is nearly 200 miles north of Tokyo and was the epicenter of the massive 8.9 magnitude quake that struck Japan on Friday. The earthquake was definitely felt here in Tokyo (Read details from Tokyo after the quake), with the magnitude that we felt being identified as more than 6 points on the Richter scale. It was enough to rock buildings, start fires, and cause tremendous damage.
I woke up this morning to an e-mail from a friend that clued me into some updates to the situation around me. She recommended eating lots of seaweed starting today, her reasons being that iodine intake with food may help to expel radioactive iodine from your body. I've heard other stories about seaweed and black tea helping to combat radiation poisoning and side-effects, as well.
This information has suddenly become important because of the escalation in the problem with nuclear plants throughout Japan. At the moment, Japan has declared states of emergency for a total of five nuclear reactors at two power plants (Yahoo! News). In one of the innermost rooms, radiation levels were 1,000 times above normal at one of the reactors.
While the authorities are, of course, trying to keep everybody as calm as possible, there is fear of nuclear radiation escaping. Nearly 14,000 people who live in the vicinity of these plants have already been evacuated by the government, and radiation has already leaked from a nuclear reactor which had its roof blown off after the quake.
In addition to fears of radiation spreading to us here in Tokyo (and across Japan), we're having to deal with another potential problem: power. Because some generating stations are down, and we're using up energy fast, we're being told to charge whatever batteries need charging, as Tokyo may start to lose power at any time.
On Saturday night, people in Tokyo scrambled to every nearby store. Convenience stores, grocery stores and multipurpose chain stores like Don Quixote have entire aisles that have been all but wiped clean. Water was the first item to disappear from the shelves (but can still be found in many vending machines), followed by prepared foods like onigiri, sushi and more.
The panic that seems to be spreading is even more unfortunate considering that on Saturday morning, life appeared to be returning to normal in small ways. Most of the trains have been running for quite some time now, people were going out for breakfast, and I could see no damage when I went for a brief walk in my neighborhood in Shinjuku Ward that morning. Also, the aftershocks that kept some of us up all night have all but subsided. We continue to feel them, but they're not as noticeable.
Nonetheless, the effects of the earthquake are still all too apparent. A friend of mine shared that her house's structure is visibly damaged, and that her family is currently living with neither running water nor gas. One of our professors is trying to return to Tokyo from California, but all flights in and out of the country have been canceled. Tsunamis have washed away the coasts, fires have spread and resulted in widespread destruction, thousands are missing, so many people have died, and even more are injured.
We continue to hear new stories about the moment the earthquake struck on Friday, reminding us of our own experiences, and feeling for all those who experienced the similarly frightening event. Then we're reminded of everything that occurred afterward, constantly being forced to re-realize just how lucky some of us really were.
Our hearts continue to go out to those who were injured or killed by the earthquake and everything that followed it.
We also continue to hope that the nuclear reactor problem does not escalate to yet another disastrous level. The earthquake and tsunami were two disasters that Japan already has to struggle to deal with, and this country definitely does not need a third. So as the situation continues to change, all of us here are holding our breath, preparing however we can, and hoping that things only settle down from here on. LINK
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