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NEWS / WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
QA KU alumnus in Japan describes quake experience
KU alumnus Jason Gibson with his wife, Chika, and their son, Kentaro, in Japan.
BY NICK CURRY editor@kansan.com
The recent earthquake in Japan cost many lives, affected even more and caused a lot of damage. Nick Curry talked to KU alumnus Jason Gibson, who is currently teaching English at a middle school in Omitama in the central Iberaki region. He takes part in Dickenson County's sister city exchange program.
NC: So where were you when the earthquake first began?
JG: I was actually at school. It was about 2:30, quarter until three in the afternoon, and it was the last class of the day. I was actually in the teachers' room because I didn't have class that period. All the teachers just at first thought it was a regular earthquake, because it happens, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger and everybody started freaking out, so we went outside.
NC: How far is that place from Sendai?
JG: Oh, 150 miles south.
NC! Do you have to deal with any of the aftershocks?
JG: Yeah. The ones that came immediately following the main earthquake were probably the largest, but everybody was already outside for those, so it wasn't really a big deal for us. We're so far inland that it didn't really matter, and the school is such a sturdy building that we didn't really see any damage.
NC: This earthquake is being listed as the fourth most powerful earthquake on record. How bad is the damage throughout Japan?
the damage in it.
JG: Pretty bad. Up in the north, near where the tsunamis have hit, I've heard reports of a village of 20,000 people missing. Can't get in there, don't know what's going on. As for the rest of Japan, I don't really know much about the area where it has hit, only what I've
seen on the news. But the parts I've been in, my house, and my wife's family's house, to me, it seems like the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks where everybody just went crazy and
ing blackouts cause lack of water. You're losing basic utilities and it's just kind of crazy. Most people around here are just trying to get their own personal lives back on track. My wife's parents are both teachers, and they both still have to go to school because it's the end of the school year here. They have finals and things to grade, so they're just trying to get all that done and work around all the power outages and everything. So, yeah, most people are just trying to work on their own stuff rather than aid the north, I suppose.
NC: How much is the damage to the power plants affecting daily life?
JG: I think that's one of the main reasons why they've had these rolling blackouts. The blackouts are about four hours at a time, twice a day. So a third of your day, you have no power. It's mostly for the Kanto area, which is the area... I think it includes Tokyo, but it's most of the area of the main island of Japan north of Tokyo. That's the Kanto Plains area. And they've instituted the blackouts for that whole area. I think losing those nuclear generators was one third of the power for the Kanto region. So, quite a lot.
NC: How far from normalcy is most of japan right now? Are most people going back to their regular routine yet?
"It just kept getting bigger and bigger and everybody started freaking out, so we went outside."
bought everything from the stores and bought all the gas. And there's ... you can't get anything. And you add on top of that the rolling blackouts on top of the government has instituted and the fact that the roll-
JASON GIBSON KU alumnus living in Japan
pened there. As for this area, most places have power and water back, minus the rolling blackouts of course. Most people in the areas I've been to, yeah, they're just trying to go on with their lives. People have been getting back to work and trying to find as much food where they can get it because the stores are still a little limited from all the buying that's been going on.
JG: Well, if you're talking about "most of Japan," most of Japan was widely unaffected. The part of Japan that was really only affected was from Tokyo,
which is about the middle of the main island of Honshu, to about. I suppose, to the north. So, about half of the main island and the north island of Hokaido were affected. The southern parts, really nothing has hap-
NC: You mentioned the local news as being a little bit bad about informing people. How really have they been reporting on this?
on this:
JG: Well, they have constant news reports, and I don't think it's necessarily the news companies here. I think it's really more of the government that's not releasing information in a timely manner, or maybe a correct manner. Even the news shows I've watched here, the anchors – or the equivalent of anchors; the shows here are a bit different – have been complaining
about the lack of information from the government. When they come on, they show nuclear engineers that come on the TV, and they just don't really say much. They tell you the status of what has happened, but they don't really tell you what they're planning to do. They don't really tell you what's going on right now; they just kind of tell you "OK, this is what's happened." And it doesn't really help much.
NC: How has the international community been helping out?
JG: I've heard on the news broadcasts that a lot of countries had already started to send aid. I can't really remember all the names. Of course, the U.S. did. China and South Korea did, which... they're pretty rival countries, pretty large rivals of Japan, so for them to send aid, and for Japan to accept it, is actually pretty big. I'd heard that New Zealand has sent a team, and, you know, they're still recovering from that huge
quake in Christchurch, so that's pretty good of them; I suppose. As far as I know, the international community is ready to help out, and Japan seems willing to accept it, which I think is something big because they weren't the last time they had a big earthquake.
I've had a lot of people that I know, personally, say, "Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need anything?" I don't. I don't need anything. Most of the people in Japan don't really need anything besides another four hours of power. But if you feel the need to help, I'm sure there is a relief fund, or a charity, or the Red Cross, that would love for you to help. So instead of asking people you know in Japan "Can I help you?", go find a charity and help the people who really need it.
Edited by Caroline Bledowski
It takes two
Michael Kirkendoll, piano, and Mary Fukushima, flute, play "The Ruin of the Cypress" Tuesday night at Swarthout Recital Hall. Kirkendoll and Fukushima played together in what they named a "DuoSolo."