Earthquake Diary 72

Yesterday the Sendai airport partially reopened. The Japanese Self Defense Force and the American Army did most of the work. A member of the US group was interviewed on CNN and said that they had removed over a thousand cars, that had been washed from the long term parking lots onto the runway and into the buildings. The tsunami completely flooded and destroyed the first floor facilities. They say that international flights will resume next month.

For us, my wife and I, life is pretty much back to normal, except for the constant shaking and my broken desktop computer. The computer problem should be solved soon, but the shaking will continue. According to the Japanese newspaper, there will be a magnitude 8+ tremor within the next 30+ years. It will be on the east side of the trench so the shaking should not be too bad, but there will probably be another big tsunami - a good reason not to go to the beach.

Many of our friends have not been as lucky as us. Large areas of the city still have no gas, water or electricity. Many buildings have been severely damaged. And this to say nothing about all the poor people who are still completely homeless and will continue that way for many months if not years.

I just received a package from my daughter in Tokyo. It arrived the next day, which means that transportation is more or less normal. Stuff must be coming by truck because the rail lines are still not completely repaired. There are still numerous interruptions where the warped tracks have not been repaired.