In May 2011, a massive earthquake hit Japan, rocking the country’s shores. Thousands of people died, and millions were left homeless and starving. Sruthi Selvakumar (14) was one of the residents in Japan who experienced and felt the earthquake. “It was a very unusual and scary experience for me,” she said in the interview.
Sruthi was in a soccer tournament in Nagoya at the time of the earthquake. Nagoya is located about 200 kilometers away from the Sendai region, which happened to be the epicenter of the earthquake. Nagoya International School was hosting a tournament and Sruthi, along with the other teammates from Marist Brothers International School, had gone to participate. Sruthi was 250 kilometers away from home! During the middle of a game on the first day of the soccer matches, the earthquake struck. “The ground started shaking and we all stopped playing for a moment,” describes Sruthi when asked about the effect of the earthquake. That night, the tsunami warnings in Nagoya rose to 3 to 4 meters high. “Not being able to be with my family at a time like that was the scariest part,” exclaimed Sruthi. “Parents kept calling in and we weren’t allowed to leave the school building. We didn’t know what was happening!”
Of course, Sruthi and her friends were lucky enough to return home two days later without any major problems. The northern regions of the Japanese island Honshu were tremendously affected. People all over Japan began to pitch in and make efforts to help and save the affected communities up north. Sruthi, along with many other students and parents, donated food and money. “There was an earthquake relief project called the ‘Tasuki Project’ in which we donated clothes, water, food, and other necessities for victims our age.”
The major scare that followed in Japan for the next several months was the nuclear power plant threat.
“I was really glad that many countries helped Japan when the country was going through this hard time,” said Sruthi. In Japan, there was a possibility that the ocean waters on the coast were contaminated with radioisotopes. Sruthi said that she was extremely worried because of that. “Japan is surrounded by sea! It’s a big deal if sea water is contaminated and inaccessible.”
“They [scientists] said that the nuclear power plant was at a risk of exploding. If that had really happened, Japan would’ve been completely destroyed,” exclaimed Sruthi. Several nuclear reactors were damaged – four of them excessively damaged. Many Japanese men lost their lives trying to stop the nuclear reactors from heating up. Radiation was spreading around Japan through the wind and sea. “The regions up north stopped delivering products to the rest of Japan. People were afraid to buy vegetables, milk, and fruits at stores because there was a slight possibility that the radiation had affected vegetation,” described Sruthi. Japan – especially Tokyo – had a big economic loss because of the earthquake. It is definitely a difficult task for northern Japan to regain its former position. Let us all pray for them!