I walked from Iidabashi to Tsurumi last night dragging an empty suitcase for 27 Km. It was a mass exodus of humans trying to get back to their homes. No buses, no trains, cars back-to-back for 27 Km. No one was moving anywhere for any reason. Crazy times.
Most of these people probably slept close to where they are sitting. The staggering power of mother nature.
One of the kanji you see on tv a lot after something like this happens is:
行方不明 (ゆくえふめい) - whereabouts unknown or simply "missing"
The count last time they updated was 628. There are a lot of scared families out there right now worrying about the people they love. Pretty sad circumstances.
It wasn't the earthquake that did much, just shook us up and gave us a ride. It was the resulting tsunami that has laid waste to Miyagi-ken. The time between the earthquake and the first wave was probably less than 15 minutes. Not long enough to get to safety.
Basically, the moment that quake hit, a few hundred people were going to die. And the saddest part is that they probably had time to realize their fate. A wave that big and strong takes time to reach land, and you can see it far out in the ocean.
We will never know what those who died thought or felt minutes before the end, but it makes me sad to imagine the fear they must have felt.
Everyone eventually dies, but I wish that no one had to die with fear in their heart.
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