The Earthquake

So as you all know by now, Japan was hit by its biggest earthquake in recorded history on Friday (yesterday).

I'm going to tell you what happened from my POV, and I will try to tell it as best and factually as I can from memory.

Ryo and I walked to Numabukuro-eki (the closest station that I use to get anywhere). We stopped at the bakery next to the station. We rode the train and I got off at Nakai-eki to transfer to the Oedo-sen (the subway I use, which by the way, is the deepest subway in Japan/I think maybe the world). I walk out of Azabujuuban-eki at around 2:30ish, and I literally walked in the door, couldn't use the elevator, and Azabu Hall starts shaking at (according to the news) 2:46pm.

The only reasons I was at school? I had a Japanese chapter test and a project to work on.

Everyone ran out of the building. I saw my friends, including Alicia (my project partner). After a few minutes, we went back inside, and Alicia, Michael (O) and I went up to the computer lab. After Mike and I convinced Alicia that the earthquake had stopped and we weren't gonna die, everything started shaking again, so once again we exited. I texted everyone in my phonebook asking if they were okay if they weren't at school or a non-school friend.

After 10-15 minutes (this is an estimation) TUJ students and staff were told to go home and contact our families. And that was it. No "By the way, all train lines have stopped."

This is taken from facebook (read after I finally got home):
(15 hours ago at the time of this writing)T****a L***n:
Is appalled by TUJ's gross neglect of the well being of it's students. after being told by the Dean of the school that we must leave the property because they are not liable for injuries at this point, hearing that students had to plead with building managers to stay at the school overnight, getting up to date info from a student through his personal facebook account , and then receiving a brief "Are you Ok" email from the school 12 hours past the incident, I AM LIVID!!! I thought school's were suppose to be a safe haven especially when you are in a foreign country. I am sorry for ever believing I could rely on Temple University Japan Campus for help in a natural disaster.This proves that TUJ is not a school but a poorly run business. I am. Just grateful for having fellow students who help one another in a time of crisis.

(in reply) C******a C***k:
‎....could not have been said better. honestly. i was lucky because one of my japanese teachers saw me and literally grabbed me and told me we were leaving together, and after a couple hours ended up at her husbands office. school did nothing for us. all of that bs that if something happened they would be prepared...i really dont knwo what to do. i feel like maybe i should go home, really because of that. they left us stranded today

(in reply) M*****l O****l:
after they closed the school at 3, they told us the trains probably woudln't be working... but just to wait it out. I had to walk 2 hours home and I only managed to get home bc I live so close and had a friend help me walk the streets. the least TUJ could have done was help people make it to Keio's earthquake shelter or hand out maps to get us home XD

However, T****a K******a wrote (24 hrs ago at the time of this writing):
DEAR Temple U Japan Students, we are negotiating with the Azabu building manager whether students can stay in the building over night since most of all trains and subways in Tokyo will be out of the service till tomorrow morning. We will inform it soon, and Student Government will distribute water and some snacks at Cafeteria.

Followed by (one hour later):
Dear all TUJ Students, Azabu hall will be open over night. The front door is closed, but you can use the back door. ATTENTION: after 10 o'clock, the back door will be locked from outside. So when you go outside, Please remind your friends to open the door from inside. Student Government distribute drinks and snacks at Cafeteria. Share this for you friends who stuck in the station or somewhere.

Anyways.

I wasn't gonna be stranded at school. After hanging around school for a while with Alicia, Michael, and a few other people, we walked to Tamachi-eki to see what the train situation was. Alicia said fuck that, let's take the bus to Shinjuku. We left Keiko and Michael behind. One guy waited in line for a bus to Shibuya. Alicia, Y (I dunno her name) and I started looking for the Shinjuku bus. We found Sophia and Danielle, who had, like many students, decided it was a good time to get smashed. I wanted to be sober and trying to get home. Eventually Alicia and I lost track of the other three and kept on trekking down Meiji-dori (really really long road in Tokyo). We got to Shibuya-eki at 6:47pm, but the trains were still down and the bus/taxi terminal was super crowded. Alicia stopped and rested for a bit in Shibuya before continuing on to Harajuku, cuz dammit, I wanted to go home and my boyfriend was waiting for me in Shinjuku.

At around 7:30, Ryo informed us that the news said all trains would be down through the night.

After we reached Harajuku, we searched desparately for both a bathroom and an empty, on-duty taxi. We found neither. Instead, we found purikura. It was warm, at least. After our "FUCK EARTHQUAKES" purikura, we headed to Shinjuku. At some point, we found a Lawson convenience store that was actually letting people use their toilet. I wanted to kick the men in line outside, saying "go find a bush" but I didn't. We waited for the toilet for about half an hour. The lady in line behind us told her she'd waited for two hours for a bus in Shibuya, and it took that long to get to Yoyogi (where we were. Check the map, from Tamachi to Shinjuku is normally a half-hour train ride. Walking was a bitch. I don't know if my legs will heal properly cuz I've never walked that far in one go before).

We finally got to Shinjuku. Alicia decided to try for a bus from Shinjuku-eki to Ikebukuro. I found Ryo at SeibuShinjuku-eki at around 10pm. We decided to try to go to a less crowded restaurant (almost every restaurant, cafe, fast food, and karaoke places were filled to the brim with people.) We were surprised to find SeibuShinjuku-eki open. Their trains were running again! We had to wait to get on a train, but we rode it to Numabukuro-eki.

Everyone was calm. No rioting, no looting.

First e-mail sent to family (3:36pm): Subject, tokyo quake. message body: i'm alive and unscathed so far.

Second e-mail to family/?th to Maura (6pm): still alive. was at school. trying to get home. trains down. phones down. buses & taxis full, not stopping for anyone. Ryo is alive somewhere. aftershocks stopped so far.

?th e-mail to Maura: (7:56pm): walking to harajuku, from school. Ryo is in shinjuku, gonna try to meet him.

Third e-mail to family/?th to Maura: still okay, besides cold & legs hurting. found Ryo. in shinjuku. don't know how to get home besides walking. tohoku region hit worst. they have nuclear plants. news says biggest quake in japanese history.

We get home and find Maura. She's okay. The apartment was a fucking mess. Alicia decides to come over and stay the night. Ryo and I pick her up from the station. We come back. I check newsfeeds and update facebook, twitter, and mixi to let people know I'm okay. Ryo makes food.

Facebook/twitter status updates in chronological order (starting from 20 hours ago):
I am alive, unscathed, cold and my legs hurt. Apartment's standing but everything's on the floor. Is everyone else here in Japan okay?

皆大丈夫？

Please, aftershocks, fucking stop. Please.

Everyone, thank you so much for your comments and concerns. I had to walk six hours to make it home, but Tokyo was fine for the most part. Please direct your thoughts and prayers to those in the Tohoku region.

"The biggest earthquake to hit Japan since records began." I'm fucking exhausted but I'm scared to fall asleep. Should I go to bed fully clothed just in case? We keep being warned about more huge aftershocks.

going to attempt sleep. will update later (hopefully)

I am trying so hard right now not to lose my shit and wake up Maura and Alicia. Ryo is trying to be my rock.

Ryo is dragging me back to bed and doesn't want me checking the news for a few hours. He wants me to sleep. Don't think I can.

Didn't sleep very well. Still have not heard back from Nori, Masaki, Aki, Shorty, some of my profs, friend's parents were in Sendai, still getting aftershocks. Maura's gonna try to go to work. =/

Rikuzentakata is gone. Four whole trains full of people are missing. Fukushima's nuclear power plant is leaking. 217 confirmed dead, over 1,000 feared dead. More than 20,000 stranded in & around Tokyo.

The trains are starting to work again.

Still have power... so far... (half an hour ago)

(end)


At around 3-4am today, a 6.6 earthquake hit Nagano. We are STILL having aftershocks. A nuclear reactor in Fukushima exploded around 2 hours ago. Reported deaths are 564 so far. So far we still have heat, power, and water. I've heard back from most everyone that they're okay, but friends' family members in the Tohoku area are still unaccounted for, for the most part. My mom wants me to come home.

I will try to keep everyone updated for as long as I can.

We're not out of the woods yet. Tokyo is fine, for now.