As flight ANA, a 34-seater jet took off from the runway at Narita airport; I closed my eyes and recalled the events of the last six days.
A series of unfortunate events shook Japan on March 11. Events that shattered the lives of thousands when an earthquake literally shook the country followed by a tsunami washing out cities, towns and lands in the prefectures (state) of Miyagi, Fukushima, and Iwate and causing places like Sendai to become wastelands. The tsunami caused damage to Nuclear Power plants in Fukushima, triggering invisible danger of radiation. We lived in the heart of Tokyo on the 32nd floor of a high rising building . The view from the house was beautiful. On one side we could see Mount Fuji and The Sky Tree and on the other we could see the Arakawa flowing into the Tokyo Bay. My brother and I were studying at the Global Indian International School. That day, we returned after our exams and had finished our lunch and were chatting with our grandparents on Skype. Suddenly, my grandmother said, “Oh! You all are shaking!” We are used to earthquakes and so we didn't pay attention to it. The time was 2:46 pm.
Then the room started swaying. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale, as stated at first had hit about 140 kilometres off the coast of Japan near Sendai. This unleashed a tsunami that hit Sendai and areas close to it. The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.0 on the Richter scale — we found out later.
Coping with disaster
We ducked under the dining table and waited for the tremor to stop. It lasted for 10-15 minutes. There were many aftershocks, less severe than the first quake.
Sitting under the table I started dialling on my mobile — Acha : no answer, Angel : no answer, Anchal : no answer. I was practically crying, as I dialled everyone I knew. Once the tremor stopped I went to our neighbour's house and asked them the gravity of the situation as everything that was being shown on the television was in Japanese. She comforted us and told us to remain at home and be calm as the worst was over and it would be difficult to go down 32 floors by stairs as the lifts were not functional.
In the meantime, my dad returned from office — two hours after the earthquake. He had walked from office which was about 11km from our house without a coat or sweater in the cold as all public transport had stopped running.
Watching Japan News that night we understood how serious the situation was. Our final exams were cancelled and we were to be promoted according to our year's performance. My parents too decided to leave. We booked tickets online on Singapore Airways for the next day. At the airport we were told that the computer systems were down and we could not fly. But on consideration we were booked on business class to Mumbai the next day. I ask God why such a devastating calamity should strike such a good country and cause suffering to such good people.
Medha Madhuram, VII, Chennai Public School
