School projects

3/11 - The Tohoku tsunami and earthquake

Sorry about the asterisks...

This is an article I wrote for my journalism class, I **** my school name because privacy but I hope it doesn't affect your reading!!

On March 11th, 2011, Japan experienced the strongest earthquake in its recorded history. A magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Honshu on the Japan Trench. A tsunami that was generated by the earthquake arrived at the coast within 30 minutes, overtopping seawalls and disabling three nuclear reactors within days. This disaster had many casualties including 19,747 deaths, 6,242 injuries, and 2,556 people reported missing. I was three at the time of the disaster, having a birthday party with my classmates. However, I wanted to find out about ****.

On this day, **** students were going about as normal, until the horrific disaster struck. How did they react?

After interviewing an **** faculty member, Mr. Smith, a 7th-grade Humanities teacher, I gathered the following information. Mr. Smith was at a meeting with former **** teacher Mr. Currinder when the first quake hit. "The first shake was not like a shake, but it was more like a wave. It was like riding on a raft on the water... and then after that, things started to shake."

According to Mr. Smith, all the students and teachers were under their desks, holding on for dear life, until they got the signal to evacuate when it was safe. "[The students knew that it wasn't a normal drill. They knew it was serious,]" recalled Mr. Smith, and followed it up with "[the shaking lasted for eternity,] although it was probably about 5 minutes, [and it was the longest 5 minutes of my life.]"

When the shaking stopped, all the students started filing out of classrooms, walking quietly down the hall, and getting out of the pools soaking wet. "... We got out there onto the field, and... we stayed there. We sat for at least a couple of hours."

A few days after the disaster, a couple of students and teachers left Japan, some temporarily, some permanently due to one of the nuclear disasters. There were aftershocks for weeks and weeks, even years, after, the most recent one being on February 13, 2021, where the tremors were felt in Tokyo, waking people up in the middle of the night. After the earthquake, the subway lines were all down and students didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning. The school discharged the buses loaded with scared, tired children, and it reportedly stayed in touch with every bus while occasionally stopping at convenience stores to let students use the bathrooms.

"[The day the earthquake struck] was the day where I learned that all those drills, they were very important. It was a day none of us will ever forget." Mr. Smith concluded.

March 11, 2011, is a day that everyone who experienced it should remember. It is tragic events like these that help us prepare for the future and whatever it may hold. 

Notes: No one knows for sure when an earthquake is coming, and people around the world need money to pay for the aftermath of those deadly and tragic disasters. Click this link https://www.gofundme.com/discover/earthquake-fundraiser to find a Gofundme that you care about or are inspired by, and help millions of people globally.