An eerie day

The past 24 hours have passed by so oddly. The quake lasted about two minutes, but it felt much, much longer. And since then time has somehow sped up: a whole day in Tokyo has passed in an eerie blink of an eye.

I feel powerless and at a loss. We are told that if we are somewhere safe, we should just stay there. We should avoid unnecessary travel because it blocks up the routes for emergency relief and for people who really need to get home. And above all we are told to save electricity: with the nuclear plants in trouble and all the devastation from the tsunami, the people in the north need every kilowatt we can send them. So I have just sat around all day with everything off except my computer so I can watch the streamed news.

It's really been like watching a bad movie with all this talk of natural disaster and nuclear meltdown, and at times it has felt like it is happening somewhere else. But then you get another aftershock (we've been getting about 4 or 5 serious shakes per hour - some serious) or hear a familiar place name on TV and it brings you right back to reality.

I want to assure you all, though, that I am fine: I'm unharmed and I have shelter, food, running water and power. The worst I've suffered is that I didn't sleep much last night. Please send out your thoughts and prayers to the people in the north.