☆★★☆: 2011/03

As many of you are already are aware, there was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of northern Japan on Friday at apprx. 2:46pm. This has been the largest earthquake recorded in Japanese history, and destruction has been insurmountable. Not only was there a massive earthquake, but a tremendous tsunami has literally washed away coastal towns all over northern Japan. The exact number of deaths and missing people are inestimable. People all over northern Japan do not have electricity, water, or gas, and are struggling every day to survive. They are desperate. Please donate to Red Cross, and keep awareness high around you.

My grandmother lives in Sendai (Miyagi prefecture in northern Japan), where the epicenter was for the massive earthquake. She had just stepped out of her house to go to the doctors before the earthquake hit. As she was walking, she suddenly felt dizzy and was wondering what was wrong with her, until she heard people screaming and yelling. People yelled at her to go back to her house, so she frantically ran back home as the 9.0M shakes continued. (How she ran through all of that, I have no idea.) When she got home, she saw that, as the outer structure of her house was still in tact, everything inside had been destroyed. If she had been inside her house at the time of the earthquake, she probably wouldn't have been able to outrun the various falling objects. It is a miracle that she is alive and well, and I thank God every day that she is alive. Everything else in her town was not so lucky though. The train that we usually ride to get to her area has been destroyed:

Even if we wanted to go help her, there is no way to travel to her area. We were able to call her land line on Friday and on Saturday, but not have been able to contact her since. We are patiently waiting for her to contact us here in Tokyo, and are just praying and praying and praying. All of us in Japan I think are now prepared with emergency bags at our doorsteps, and getting prepared for the worst. Even in Tokyo, so many people are stocking up on necessities that many grocery stores and convenience stores' shelves are empty.
I personally have never experienced such a scary earthquake. I was near my sink blowdrying my hair at the time, when I saw my washing machine violently shaking. Then, things just started falling out of my cupboards (huge bottles of detergent, etc), and I just crouched down covering my head, under the doorway. There were two large quakes, one after another, and I think most of us are now traumatized and paranoid. So many things had fallen inside my house, and on top of that, there is a long thin crack on our living room wall. I spent the night underneath my dining table alone, wide-eyed and unable to sleep. My mom works as a translator at Tokyo Disneyland, and wasn't able to come home that night. She spent the night there, and finally was able to come home the next morning.
These are more pictures of the disaster I have accumulated from NYT:

^Whole towns submerged, and some on fire.

^Approaching tsunami

^Tsunami destroying everything in sight.

^Massive fire that just kept on spreading.

^Roads in Chiba prefecture upheaved.

^Roads caving in, taking whole houses with it.

I know my blog is usually fashion/advertising/art related, but I would like to take this opportunity and platform to raise awareness about this tragedy. My beloved home country is half in ruins...and it breaks my heart. I am constantly tearing up every day watching all this footage. Please do anything you can to help Japan.
My friend who lives in California is making t-shirts to raise money. Below is what they will look like on one side. She will be selling them online, so I will post all that information when I get it! Please consider buying one :)