Damage report 被害報告

By now I'm sure everyone has seen pictures of the devastation wrought by the Tsunami following the quake. Cars overturned. Houses carried away. Even whole villages have been wiped out.

Compared to all this, Kashima got off relatively easy.

I've compiled some photographs that friends (Thanks Sean, Brighid and Manu) have taken:

(top left: the tori to the local shrine collapsed. top right: my office. I was actually siting at that table planning a lesson when the quake struck. middle: roads in various state of disrepair. bottom left: tiles fell off of roofs. bottom right: the tsunami, although nowhere near as sever as up north, hit us as well. Here you can see a car buried in sand and a telephone pole that has sunk into the ground.)

Now there is apparently no running water in Kashima. Tomo and I are ok because our house uses well water. As long as we have electricity we'll be fine. Speaking of which, they cut our electricity for a few hours last night as part of a plan. Apparently, they don't have enough to go around. Anyway, we've opened our house to my co-workers to come and use for showering etc. We are still experiencing aftershocks and a big one is predicted.

Tomo and I ventured out yesterday but most everything was shut down. Today, we've begun hearing reports that the supermarkets are opening back up. However, people are still lining up at gas stations where they are rationing out gas, if they have it at all.

There is a lot of conflicting reports and information coming in as far as the power situation and the power plant (about 150 kilometers north of us). Apparently, they are now cooling it down with sea water.

Words can't describe the past few days.

鯰が活躍しているね

(Some good friends and I in front of the old Kashima Shrine.)

There is a legend of a giant catfish trapped at the center of the earth. This catfish is held there by a giant rock. Whenever the catfish struggles or tries to get free there is an earthquake.

According to the legend, the tip of the rock can actually be seen very near the Kashima shrine. It is said this is why Kashima has so few earthquakes.

Yesterday the catfish was really fighting.

Japan experienced one of its biggest earthquakes in a long time. This was followed by a giant Tsunami. Tomo and I are OK. Our neighbors tile roof collapsed and the inside of our house looks like a bomb went off. But Tomo and I are fine.

鹿嶋市では震度６弱と観測された。地震でゆれ始めた時、家の２階で絵を描いていた。まさかここまでの規模の大地震になるとは思いもよらずしばらく２階で座布団をかぶっていたのだが、尋常でない縦揺れと地震の長さ、そして家中の物が落下して割れる音に恐ろしくなり階段を駆け下りたら歩けないほど揺れていた。家全体が縦に「がんがんがん」と同じリズムで轟音を立てている中外に出たら近所の人々が道のアスファルトに這いつくばっていた。「がらがら」と物が落下する音がし隣家の屋根瓦がまとめて崩れ落ちていた。その後同じような規模の大地震が続けておこった。

家中に散乱したガラスや陶器の破片をほうきで掃きながら地震がおこるたびに外へ走り出た。近所では小火があったようだ。しかし鹿嶋のこの辺りでは幸いにも電気ガスは止まらず。夕飯時には揺れもやや収まってきたので長く調理しないものをつくり食べた。大きな余震があるたびにストーブの火を消した。近所の小学校や図書館でマイクを使って人々を誘導する声が夜７時くらいまで聞こえていた。海辺に家のある人々が避難してきていたのかもしれない。

朝ご飯・Breakfast

トモの理想な朝ご飯...

サムの理想な朝ご飯...

...何か違いますね。