Two Years Ago

Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of the big 9.0 earthquake that triggered a tsunami, which triggered a nuclear plant meltdown. Though much of Japan is back to normal, there are still parts that certainly are not. There are STILL people living in shelters. The area around Fukushima is basically a dead zone and will be for quite some time. And, people are just a bit more on edge each time the ground shakes.

It was an interesting time personally for us. I walked down memory lane and read our Shutterfly post and my Facebook posts. So you don't have to go digging, here they are.

Shutterfly:

March 13: Hi, all! We've talked to a lot of you via Facebook or Skype or whatever, but we still just wanted to post here that we are fine after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11. We definitely felt the shaking here--we couldn't believe how long it lasted. But the intensity and the aftermath was nothing compared to what our neighbors to the north are still experiencing. RJ slept through the initial quake, but looked at me wide-eyed during the first aftershock--not exactly scared, but more wondering why the bed was shaking and the house was making noise. RJ and I hopped into the car about 90 minutes after the quake to go pick up Jip from work. Jip was on the 5th floor of his building, and really felt everything sway! During the 3 hours it took RJ and I to get to the base (a trip that normally takes 30 minutes), Jip was able to look out his window and watch the water rise siqnificantly from a tidal wave and ride out the numerous aftershocks. Where we are on Tokyo Bay is quite sheltered, so we are fortunate that the tsunami waves that followed really didn't do damage here. Once we picked up Jip, we discovered that the Navy Base had all but shut down, so we ended up returning to Jip's office to feed RJ dinner. Then we got back in the car for our trip back home. Luckily, the return trip in the dark (no power) took the usual 30 minutes. We made sandwiches and went to bed. The power came back on in the middle of the night. Saturday, Jip went to work to make sure the ships in his care were ready to respond to the disaster. And now, life in Yokosuka is pretty well back to normal. We are trying to keep up with the news through the Internet (we don't get any English news on TV at our house), so you all often know more than we do! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and wishes!

Facebook:

March 11: Now that was an earthquake!! Stuff fell, tall furniture swayed. We lost power. But, RJ slept through the whole thing and the cell phone network is still up. Now trying to find news about the size and any tsunami warnings...

March 11: 7.9 magnitude quake. Tsunami warning issued. Jip's building evacuated. And, now aftershocks that are freaking out my RJ a bit. (He woke up about 30 minutes after the big shakes.). Ah, the joys of living in Japan.

March 12: Thanks to all of you for your posts, thoughts, and wishes! Yesterday was an event, to say the least. Jip's experience was definitely more harrowing, being on the 5th floor and watching the water rise a couple of hours after the shakes.

March 12: As the night grows colder, I am thankful to have power tonight--my house is warm, my fridge is cool, and my toilet seat warmers are fully operational.

March 14: I just found out what an awesome neighbor we have. We had a van drive through the neighborhood announcing the coming power blackout, but I didn't understand a word. Our neighbor wrote it all down in English and brought it to me. Then, she came back over two hours later to tell me today's blackout was cancelled and to make sure "baby" and I weren't inconvenienced. Very nice!!!

March 15: No trains are running because Japan is trying to conserve power. So, Jip gets the car and RJ and I will be skipping PT Tots class today. We are also awaiting our first blackout--it was supposed to start at 6:20, but it is 6:30 and we still have power. I'm going to try not to complain, though--this is nothing compared to the hardships up north.

March 15: Just had a nice little (well, not so little) aftershock. RJ is still sleeping. But, I bet I'm up for awhile now.

March 16: Just topped off our gas tank--thank goodness we didn't need more than our ration of 5 gallons! Now heading home to see if we have power.

March 16: Just had another aftershock we could feel this far south. They can stop anytime now.

March 17: Although a mandatory evacuation order has not been ordered, a voluntary evacuation has been authorized. There is a chance an evacuation would be mandatory next week. So, to avoid the mass confusion and the hurry-up-and-wait that is sure to ensue, RJ and I booked our own flight and will be returning to Colorado on Sunday. We are unhappy about having to leave Jip, but we hope to all be back together soon. Please keep Jip in your thoughts, as he must stay behind to continue to serve the 7th Fleet.

Those were some crazy times. We are now better prepared as a family for an emergency. We have 72-hour kits and an emergency notebook. We keep the gas tank more than half full. We established a plan for where to meet on base and off base should there be another earthquake that triggers a tsunami. We hope we will never have to use our emergency preps, but as Japan showed us two years ago, you just never know.