We were woken on Sunday by a 6.4 earthquake at 7:14am. Being exhausted and since it was only a sixer, we turned over and went promptly back to sleep until an hour later when another earthquake measuring 6.2 rocked us awake. Time to get up.
Russell peeked outside to see if the flood was gone. The fish were back so we took this as a good sign.
Then we turned on the TV to see what was happening. The nuclear reactor situation wasn't looking any better. We decided it might be a good idea to investigate what a nuclear meltdown might mean. We're about 250 kilometers, approximately 155 miles, away from the power plant in question. We consulted with Wikipedia - how to survive a nuclear explosion.
It was scary but not as scary as I thought. If you survive the first 48 hours it's all good. The survival list seemed doable:
*Fill your bathtubs and sinks with water and cover with plastic
*Cover your windows with plastic and secure with duct tape
*If you don't have plastic use a mattress
*Seal yourself into a room with no windows and seal the door
*Use a bucket for a toilet
*Ensure you have enough provisions for 48 hours
After 48 hours as long as you boil your water and wash your cans off before opening them you'll probably be Ok. Oh and you should take some potassium iodide pills which suppresses your body's ability to absorb radiation.
Just to be safe Russell thought we should go buy some supplies.
We were able to secure plastic tarps and duct tape but no potassium iodide pills. The pharmacist knew immediately what we were looking for when she typed the second word, iodide, into her translator. She looked up in surprise and told us they don't carry it.
On the way home the P.A. announcement sounded off a warning and a voice came over the sound system. The message was translated into rough english, and from what we could gather, asked the citizens to conserve energy by minimizing the use of electrical lighting and appliances.
I stopped at one of the shrines near our home. It's a lovely structure, all wood, with intricate carvings on the roof eaves and clever fox statues guarding it . Ribbons of white paper flutter in the wind warding off evil spirits. A plum tree marks the entrance and is cheerfully blooming in a profusion of pink. I purified my hands in the wooden well, offered my gratitude by throwing some coins into the collection box and bowed. I gave thanks that all three of us were unharmed by the tragedy. Then I sent positive thoughts to those families in the North for a quick recovery and finally asked that we continue to be brave in the face of continued adversity.
Cindy called and told us she was on a 8p flight back to Sydney.
I called my sister on our walk home and asked her to secure us some iodide tablets and send them to us. Russell and I couldn't believe how fatigued we were. Even though we had gotten eight hours of sleep we were both exhausted. I think the reality of the quake was finally sinking in. Even Ranger was exhausted. We took a nap.
When we woke up we turned on the news again. Big mistake. Nothing but bad news and poor reporting. We checked email. The American Embassy had sent out notifications to the expat community about the quake, tsunami, power plant situation and black outs. More good news.
*The evacuation area had increased to 20 kilometers around the power plant
*Expats were being encouraged not to travel for any reason
*Tsunami warnings still in affect in the north
*Rolling black outs would commence beginning Monday
Another six pointer rolled through. UGH!
That's it we decided. We need a pick me up. I made pasta and we watched When Harry Met Sally.
I'll have what she's having.
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