History is being written every day, and it is an amazing thing to be able to say that we were living in Japan when they experienced their record-breaking 8.9 magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami. We are so very fortunate here on Okinawa that we were far enough away from the epicenter that we were not affected. In fact, we never even felt the initial quake or any of the ensuing aftershocks. Even California got more of a tsunami than we did. I'm telling you - God was protecting our little island. The death toll currently just passed 11,000 with more being added each day as re-building begins. While the people up in mainland Japan are still feeling the aftershocks every day, another growing concern that many of our family and friends back in the States have been wondering about is the radiation from the damaged power plants. As far as we know, we have not received any radiation down here in Okinawa, and according to our sources, we are not projected to get any because of the wind paths across the globe - they don't go south, they go east into the Pacific Ocean. In fact, Okinawa has been pronounced as a "safe zone" to which many American families living up in mainland Japan have evacuated to.
A diagram showing where the epicenter was in relation to Okinawa (click to view larger) 
Unfortunately for us, we (along with four of our other friends) had a trip planned and paid for to Kyoto up in mainland Japan that has since been cancelled - and barely refunded at all. We ended up losing about $300 on the tickets. No matter how mad we were about our situation, we realized that the situation that many others are in right now is about a million times worse. People lost their homes, their belongings, their pets, their family members, and their lives. We were actually living IN Japan at the time of this devastating event. If all we lost was $300 and a vacation, then I thank God for that!
Thank you everyone back in the States for all your love, support and prayers for our safety and for everyone up in mainland Japan!
-C
Very nicely written...great information for those of us concerned with the radiation...nice how you included the map. Puts things into perspective for us Statesiders. All we hear is "Japan" and we have no idea where in Japan that Okinawa is actually located. You are a gifted writer (and gifted at many other things as well.) I am truly blessed and proud to be your mom. Most important is empathy for others and your faith. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI echo your mom's comments. (after mom add "-in-law") So very glad for the internet/facebook/search engines...
ReplyDeleteThanking God for protecting you both! Love and Hugs! <><