Damage after an earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on March 16, 2011. Photo: REUTERS/DigitalGlobe/Handout
Earlier today we shared an email from Japanese student Kana Igarashi, who attends Santa Monica College in California. She told us about her mother, who is in Fukushima Prefecture, one of the areas hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami, and the site of the nuclear plants that are in danger. Kana’s father, grandparents and sisters are also there.
Kana says her family lives about 80km from the nuclear plants. Currently those within 30km have been told to evacuate or stay inside, but the U.S. embassy has advised Americans to stay at least 80km from the plants.
I spoke to her on the phone this morning to find out more.
On how she heard about the earthquake. I only know me from Fukushima, and my friends know that I’m the only one from Fukushima in this college. Many of my friends called me to call to Japan because they found out that the earthquake hit my area – my prefecture and then the next prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture.
On the first 24 hours and hearing news from her family. I actually was really really worried about it – worried about them. I couldn’t go to sleep. I was just watching the NHK news on the internet. And then I really got scared because my prefecture is really in countryside and I didn’t really expect that many cities I know and then my city is on TV. And then seeing those disasters on TV all the time and then I wasn’t able to talk to my family.
In the daytime everyone tried to call to their family in the north and then the connection is really packed. But still there is some way to contact with them. So what my parents did was woke up like 2 in the morning to call me.”
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