I’m still amazed at the thought of an earthquake that strong striking just about anywhere. I saw something on twitter about it shortly after it happened, and so I was up very late Thursday night watching the coverage. I sent Yuka a message right away to let her know that my thoughts are with her family, even if there’s not much I can do to help.
Early the following morning, Mom called from Northern California, where she was finishing her visit with Tim, Yasu, and the boys. She said that Yasu’s family is all fine, as Okinawa is pretty far removed from the epicenter. It turns out my little brother Bob was in Japan when the quake happened, though he says he didn’t feel anything. He’s in Iwakuni, which is still on the main island, but is very far south of Sendai. It’s important to note, by the way, that Maru is okay.
I’m saddened by the tragic loss of life and horrific damage in Sendai and surrounding areas. As many others have already said, the building codes in Japan surely saved countless lives and prevented the damage from being far more extensive. Let’s just hope their nuclear power plants don’t negate that.
Of course, there are also those who would say that the Japanese deserved it, but those people are idiots.
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I get the shakes every time I think about Japan and the unimaginable devastation. I feel so heart sick over the disaster and for the people who have shown such composure as I’ve never seen in the face of such tragedy. People who say anyone deserves this type of thing are horrible. Forget them!