Earthquake Q&A

I have had a lot of people ask me questions about this whole fiasco and although I really don't have many answers, here are the answers I do have. For any other questions you may have, you should look to CNN or other news outlets that you normally watch.


Q: How far away are you from the epicenter and the nuclear plant?
A: We live in a city outside of Yokohama Japan and we are about 160 miles from the plant and 200 miles from the epicenter. 


Q: Could you really feel the earthquake even though it was so far away?
A: (the only annoying question) YES! If California was getting tsunami waves from this earthquake you better believe we felt it here 200 miles away. At the epicenter it was a 9.0, here it was a 7.5. That was followed by two other 7.0 range after shocks.


Q: Did your area receive much damage?
A: No, other than items falling down, there was no damage in my area. I have not been out in the city since the quake but from what I can tell everything is OK.


Q: Are there still aftershocks?
A: Yes. On the day of the earthquake we were almost constantly having aftershocks with about a dozen over the 6.0 magnitude. Many of the aftershocks we are now feeling are around a 3-4 range. I would guesstimate that we get one every 4-5 hours. 


Q: Are we being evacuated?
A: No. Right now we are not in immediate danger from radiation, tsunami or the volcano (in southern Japan).


Q: Did the tsunami reach your area?
A: No. We are next to Tokyo bay which has zigzag barriers set up through out the harbor to help break up the wave. So although a tsunami could hit us, it is far less likely. 


Q: Do you have food and water available to you and the people in your area?
A: Yes, our area has plenty of food and water. Being part of a military family has benefits of knowing that if a food shortage or water shortage was to happen, they could help us rather quickly. So far we have not had any need for help from an outside source. 


Q: Will the radiation fumes come to your area?
A: Right now it looks unlikely. The winds have luckily been blowing out to sea.


Thank you everyone for your concern, thoughts and prayers that have been sent our way. We truly do appreciate it.