As many of you would have known by now, on March 11, 2011, a 9.0 Richter scale eqarthquake hit Japan. It triggered tsunamis that devastated the coastlines and caused a state of nuclear emergency in Japan. As it is, there are many people with no power nor water. It is estimated that the death toll will run into tens of thousands, as complete towns have been wiped completely off the map.
Yet in the midst of all that, the Japanese can still smile. They’re opening their doors wide to all and sundry. They’re giving way. They’re being unfailingly considerate. They’re offering rides to strangers. They’re helping each other with no thought to themselves.
They will need help to rebuild. To find survivors. Please, if you can spare some change or can volunteer in some way, don’t hesitate to offer.
You can donate to the International Red Cross or directly to the Japanese Red Cross via Google.
ETA (thanks SiliconShaman): Does anyone know what happened to those Pacific islands that were in the path of the tsunami? I know that the Red Cross said that they were in danger of being wiped out.
ETA 2: As Mika Aka says, “In Guam, the waves broke two U.S. Navy submarines from their moorings. But they were brought back by tug boats.”
ETA 3: The waves were smaller than expected and thankfully they erred on the side of caution (surfers excepted from this).
My heart goes out to Japan.
I’ll never forget the typhoon incident me and my friend encountered when we were in Japan.
A typhoon skirted back and was passing by Tokyo when we’re walking around Akihabara and we didn’t know about it.
I noticed a lot of people we’re shouting and waving frantically at us, even those running past us and into the buildings. I couldn’t quite make out what they were shouting because the rain and wind was too noisy.
But we thought it was just heavy rain because it rained the night before and stupidly walked quite a distance before we’re unable to walk against the wind anymore and headed into a nearby building for shelter.
It was only when we returned to the hotel at night and watched the news that we realized we stupidly walked in the typhoon!
Then it dawned upon me that everyone was trying to get us into the building to avoid the typhoon!
It has always been in their culture that they will be there for one another as a family.
While I’m not surprised when I read in the news on how orderly they are and how even those trapped in the subway shared their mobiles so that everyone has a chance to reach their loved ones, I’m still very touched by it.
Bless their kind souls. Never a moment that they will not help anyone, as long as it’s within their means.
I pray that this strong, united country will be able to overcome this crisis.