Japan Disaster Relief

When the earthquake hit I was on the Narita Express Train (NRT) to Narita International Airport to catch a flight to San Francisco. I have experienced many earthquakes in San Francisco but most of them are nothing to worry about. Some are so mild in fact if they even wake me up I feel safe enough to roll over and go back to bed.

Friday’s earthquake seemed no different at first. The trembles started so gently that I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it. May be I was getting a bit lightheaded and dizzy. I glanced around the car of the train and nobody seemed to care. It was only 5-10 seconds though before things started moving vigorously. Our train was stopped on the tracks and passengers were looking at each other to see who would suggest that it was getting serious. The shaking had gotten so violent that things were toppling over from the overhead compartment of the train

I was initially worried about my safety. I knew it was a serious quake and they made announcements over the intercom-requesting passengers to stay calm until we evacuated the train. Finally, the J.R. Authorities had opened the doors in the first car of the train and asked us to evacuate and walk to the Tsudanuma Station, which was about 2 kilometers away. When we reached the station, we realized that there was a tsunami alert for all port cities. Cell phone networks were down, all major high ways have been shut down due to damages, and electricity was out.

I figured I should get to the next big city so I can get a hotel room for the night and figure out my next steps, so I decided to walk to Chiba, which was about 20 kilometers. I reached Chiba around 10.45PM at night, only to find that hotels had no vacancy and I didn’t have a place to stay. After resting for a few minutes at the Chiba station I decided to continue on my hike for another 27 kilometers to get to Narita Airport. The night was cold, it was about -2 Celsius, sirens buzzed through the dark night alerting citizens of aftershocks. I finally reached Narita Airport around 4.30AM in the morning to catch the first flight back to San Francisco. By this point, I had walked for more than 9 hours. My whole body was numb and I was in a state of exhaustion.

After experiencing one of the biggest disasters of our time, I will never forget the images of this great disaster. Homes, schools and hospitals that have been destroyed; Families trying to find their loved ones, parents trying to feed their children. I believe we are all connected and we should show compassion and help the ones in need. We can help the American Red Cross and Shelter Box as they deliver food, medicine and water. I have set up an account to raise donations for the relief efforts and I strongly urge you to donate today.