March 11, 2011--I have never felt anything so scary as that long rolling earthquake that day. The 9.0 earthquake and following tsunami has had me glued to the computer and TV. We are all fine, and living on this base, I feel like we have been living in a bubble. We have food, water, and gasoline, unlike those living in Japan, who are under gas rationing. The Japanese usually buy their groceries day to day as their refrigerators and kitchens are much smaller than in the US and on base. So the grocery shelves are mostly empty until the trucks can come by and replenish the supplies. Everyone here on base wishes that we can do more, but we can't. So we are doing what we can by supporting the search and rescue operations here by manning the Red Cross canteen for those incoming rescue personnel, volunteering whenever the call goes out, and many of us are just praying for Japan.
If you are interested in more information, there is info on the www.yokota.af.mil site, or if you are on Facebook, I will try and keep people updated (through status updates or posting a link), or you can check out the Yokota Air Base, Japan official site.
Having and using Facebook during the very recent earthquake and tsunami has been nothing short of amazing for many of us living here in Japan. Our cellphones didn't work for a couple of days. Japan landlines were down, though thankfully our VOIP phones still worked for the most part. Facebook was instrumental in getting the word out to family and friends that we were all safe here. And, it has been a wonderful as a means of support for us here: though status updates, we know instantly how our friends here on base are doing, we can send chat messages to multiple friends when new info comes out, we can post new info on power outages, town hall meetings, etc so that the word can get around base quickly.
I realized, however, that there are many friends and family that are not connected to us through Facebook, and perhaps even email. So I am going to try and post updates through here for those family and friends.
Keep praying for all those here in Japan, especially for those up in the affected areas, the workers at the nuclear plans, and the military and rescue operations.
