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Family safe for now, concerned about nuclear threat
The city of Tochigi, Japan, in the Tochigi prefect of that island nation, reports only one minor injury following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck just offshore Friday. The city website reports that 128 buildings and some roads were damaged. The power went out with the earthquake but was restored. Rolling blackouts are now the order of the day as the country deals with offline nuclear plants and the threat of nuclear fallout if the severely damaged nuclear reactors fail.
"They are still feeling a lot of aftershocks," said Cheryl Hamrick of McCook, whose son Joe lives in Tochigi with his wife, Megumi and their two children, Hanali and Jack.
The city is home to just under 150,000 people and is about 50 miles north of Tokyo and some 150 miles south and east of the damaged nuclear plants.
"The worry now is those nuclear facilities and what will happen if they have a meltdown," Cheryl said.
Joe met and married Megumi while he was stationed with the Navy in Japan.
After his discharge in 2003 the family moved to McCook, where, according to an Oct. 18, 2007, story in the McCook Daily Gazette, Megumi struggled to deal with the immensity of Southwest Nebraska. She also missed the cuisine of her youth and according to her mother-in-law, "was really lonely for her family." She traveled back and forth several times over the years and moved back permanently about three years ago.
Joe joined her in Tochigi about a year and a half ago and found work teaching English to young Japanese students, 2-8 years of age. He returned to work yesterday where one of his youngest students, a 2-year-old, comforted his 6-year-old brother, who was really afraid and crying.
"Joe was really touched by that scene," his mother said. "The older children seem to have a better sense of what's going on. My grandson, Jack, (Ren in Japanese), doesn't seem to realize what's going on, but Hanali, now nearly 9-years-old, understands a lot more than the little ones do."
"Megumi emails me every 4-6 hours," Cheryl said. "She says the power is off and on intermittently. I spend my time emailing them and watching the news programs on television."
The images are heartbreaking, Cheryl said. "They've got to find a way to bring those people out of the affected areas, kind of like we did with the evacuees from Katrina." It's wintertime in Japan and the cold weather just adds to an already miserable situation.
"They've got to get them somewhere warm," Cheryl said, adding, "Please keep them deep in your prayers."
Joe's dad, Joe Hamrick, indicated this morning that although there are lines for food and gas, the family is getting along, "pretty well, considering." He also said that he would provide updates as the situation continues to unfold.