The Sendai Earthquake and the Yokohamamama
As many of you are likely aware of by now a huge earthquake has struck Japan. Without a doubt, this is a disaster of massive proportions and the loss of human life will be considerable. It breaks my heart just to think of the suffering, but this would all be of more general human sympathy and interest except for the Amy, the Yokohamamama. Amy has been a long time contributor and commenter here offering us insight and a glimpse of Japanese culture. She has been one of my favorite online friends for a while now, her blog has been a regular stop for me. I have long admired her wit and intelligence.
This morning she is alone in San Diego unable to get a flight back to her family in Yokohama due to the quake. She has spent a wearied and worried night wondering if they were OK, unable to get a call through. The good news is that they are fine and she has talked to her husband and children. Rather than blather on, I’ll just refer you to her site here. She has been posting updates regularly.
Amy is a great person and I wish I were closer to San Diego so we could offer some help. The bad thing about being an atheist is that we are well aware of how helpless we really are in these circumstances. Knowing prayer for what it is, we have given up even the illusion of being able to change reality. We just have to sit and take what it dishes out and comfort each other the best we can. In this light, I offer what comfort I can to Amy and her family. I also weep from the suffering of those affected, those who have lost homes and, especially, those that have lost loved ones. I fear there will be many.
I wish we were able to do something.
Amy, our thoughts are with you and those that you love.
I’ve just heard from Amy, and she’s now home with her family, who are all safe and sound. It’s a small straw of good news in the over-all tragedy, I know, but we take what we can get. And being only human, I’ll admit to worrying more about the few people I know and personally care about than the many I don’t know.
Haysoos Crisco, KK. By the time I got to the bottom of that first paragraph I thought she was gone.
Amy, I’m so glad that you are all right. On the map it looks like Yokohama is very near the worst of it. Keep us informed.
Thank you all so much for worrying about me! Yokohama is fairly far south of Sendai (Tokyo is in between)–but they still felt a Stron5 quake. I was able to get home alright–but now we are experiencing rolling blackouts because of the Fukushima reactor crisis (which supply a large amount of power to Tokyo Electric Power Company)… and people around here are panic shopping because of warnings that there could be a 7magnitude aftershock still this week. I’ll try to remember to take my camera to our store tomorrow–I couldn’t believe it today…
Amy, I’m glad you and your family are okay.
Thank you so much, Nancy–it means a lot that people who know me only via the internet care enough to think about my family. Good to see your comments here, too (always check for yours:-))