Term 2 Online Lesson 1: Crisis in Japan

95 Ichi St, Kyoto, Myagi Prefecture

4 April 2011

Dear brother,

How are you doing in Singapore? I’m sure you have heard about the earthquake back here in Japan. Now, the situation in every city is totally chaotic and the whole area is wiped out. Let me describe what happened to me on March 11.

I was at work as usual, when there were the familiar tremors again. I was unafraid, as I was very used to it. However, they did not stop even after 10 minutes but became even stronger. This was very strange. Then, the tremors became so violent that my computer blacked out and fell flat on my desk. I noticed similar things were happening to my colleagues. My supervisor suddenly rushed out and told us to get under the table. As I followed, I glanced out of the window. Many buildings were collapsed and there was this large “glacier” travelling towards us. Instinctively, I realized that it was a tsunami.

There was no time to run, let alone get out of the building. Seconds later, I heard the first wave hit the building. I felt the whole building being uprooted from the ground. It swayed here and there before regaining its stability. Miraculously, the building was undamaged, except for small cracks here and there at the bottom floors of the building. Afraid that the building might collapse unexpectedly, we immediately rushed out to safety. At the same time, the sirens wailed. All around us, watery debris littered the ground, and our company building seemed one out of a few that still stood.

That night, I camped on the streets for the first time in my life. Although I did not know what had happened to Dad and Mum, I still felt sad for many people as I knew a tsunami and earthquake of this scale was devastating. I slept with uneasiness and apprehension, not knowing what was in for me for the future.

The next morning, I woke up to find rescue workers surrounding us. They escorted us by van to an evacuation centre about 30km away. There were about 100 people already there.

Since then, I have been coping quite well and I am planning to leave for Seattle tomorrow for fear of radiation poisoning. Hope you can visit me there.

Yours sincerely,

Wei Loon