On that morning, everything went normally. No one had thought that something big would come and changed some other's life. Not until the fine day turned into a gloomy afternoon when a huge earthquake hit the eastern part of Japan and brought deadly tsunami waves. The 9.0-magnitude earthquake has been recorded as the most powerful ever to hit Japan. Both the earthquake and tsunami brought a really devastating impact which caused too many casualties. It was a year ago, 11th March 2011. And here is my story..
We were eating lunch at the University of Tokyo's cafeteria when the earthquake happened. At first, we thought it's just a small earthquake which sometimes occurs since we've been in Japan. But it's getting bigger and much bigger until people inside the cafeteria started to run out, except for the caffe's staff who immediately reminded us to keep away from the windows and opened the door so the guests could come out easily. When we were already at the outside, the heavy quake still occurred. I could see how a 7-storey building trembled and cars moved up and down due to the quake. That was the biggest quake I've ever felt. The situation was terrible. When the shake was less intensive, cluster of people came out from the buildings and stayed outside. No one screaming, no obvious panic, and no selfish actions. By that time, I didn't know what was really going on in the east coast of Japan. Some military planes were on flight, but I didn't know where they're going to and why. I stayed at my husband's campus until 2 hours after the big quake happenned. There were still aftershocks every 30 minutes when I decided to go home without my husband who still wanted to check the condition of his lab on the seventh floor. Arriving at home, I was paralyzed seeing everything is in a mess. Many things like bottles, a heavy flask, and boxes were dropped from their places. I thanked God for not being at home only with my daughter when the quake occurred.
The University of Tokyo's lab and library after the major quake
I was still ignorant and didn't know that something miserable had happened, until I turned my PC on and saw the news. Tsunami just hit the coastal area of Sendai, eastern Japan, following the 8.9 Magnitude (and later was informed 9.0 Magnitude) of earthquake! My body was trembled. When I checked Facebook (which amazingly still worked out), relatives and friends were asking if we're okay. The news has been spread out. Though we live quite far away from Sendai, we felt anxious too, perhaps because the aftershock quakes kept coming regularly. Hence, we couldn't sleep well and often be awaken by the aftershock quakes and warning sirens from the city government, not to mention sound of aircrafts which frequently monitored the situation.
A day after the tragedy, we knew from the news that the victims had been increasing significantly. We felt anguish over this. The problem was getting bigger as well since some nuclear reactors in Fukushima had leaked and disseminated anxiousness of radiation issue over northern part of Japan. We were affected by this issue since some vegetables, fruits, and milk from Fukushima area were temporary banned. We were also recommended not to drink from tap water as it might contain radioactive materials. So for several weeks, I had be in queue to enter supermarket to get certain "valuable" things, such as mineral water, milk, and breads (first-come, first-served). My parents had urged us to go back to Indonesia. They thought the situation in Japan after Tsunami wasn't safe, especially for foreigners like us. Many foreigners were indeed more worried and chose to go back to their countries for safety, including some of my husband's friends. Some prefer to go to the South, heading for Kyoto and Osaka, as in these areas the impact of the Tsunami and nuclear radiation was next to nothing. But we decided to stay. If our Japanese neighbours could stay, why couldn't we? Beside, our condition was much much better than people living near Sendai or Fukushima.
In less than one year, Tohoku prefecture in east cost Japan which had been heavily damaged by the earthquake and Tsunami has shown an incredible progress of recovery (see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099811/Eleven-months-tsunami-earthquake-ravaged-Japan-new-pictures-incredible-progress-multi-billion-pound-clear-up.html). I often heard that Japanese people were accustomed to cope with disasters, especially earthquake. By this time, I have become an eye-witness of their patience, perseverance, and determination in time of trouble. They really know the drill, and we should learn much from them.
Nagareyama, March 11th, 2012
