Please believe that I am safe and well and that my area is not affected by the things that are going on up North. My town has been continuing life as normal, you don't see people running for the airport here or acting out of the ordinary at all.
I've seen the news being broadcasted in America and England and yes, it is terrible what has happened in Sendai and I could see why one would think I'm about to die when you look atyour news but you have to understand how skewed the media is. The videos you are seeing are real and horrible, extreme cases of the disaster right when it hit a week ago. But the trick with the media is that they never specify where they are reporting about. They give you these horrible facts but forget to mention that they are only talking about the Northern region and make it sound as if the whole of Japan has been swallowed, or is extremely small. Honshu, Japan is 807 miles across, bigger than Britain (600 miles), Italy (736 miles), and several other countries that no one would call or consider "small." The situation in Sendai is truly horrible but it has nothing to do with where I am in Japan. I am on the southern part of honshu, over 400 miles from Fukushima. (This is the same distance to Montreal, Canada from Philadelphia. Would you be panicking and running away from PA if an earthquake hit Canada?)
The biggest threat people seem to think we have is the possibility of a reactor meltdown and an increase in radiation. A so called normal level of radiation is about .03 msv. As of now the radiation level around Fukushima where the affected reactors lay is 23 msv. This is less than half the radiation of an xray scan (50 msv), and less than 1/4 the radiation I would get in a plane ride from here back to the US. We are surrounded by things that emit radiation waves on a daily basis (microwaves, cell phones). In fact, out of the 3000 people who have been reported dead since last friday, not one of them have been a result from radiation poisoning. These dead count increases have been from newly discovered casualties of the tsunami and earthquake. The real, most dangerous risk at the moment which will probably cause an increase in deaths are hypothermia, lack of food and water, and lack of supplies. But once again, this has nothing to do with me or my area. Our food and supplies is unaffected by the shortages up north and I am warm and fed ridiculously each day.
Even so, the latest is that they are beginning to cool down the reactors and stabilize them. TEPCO hopes to have electricity restored to all the reactors in Fukushima within the next couple of days. If all goes well, this will restore power to the pumps that cool the reactors. Even if the reactors were to fail and melt down, I do not think the radiation levels would be affected this far away. The most affected area would be the surrounding 30 miles around the plant, nowhere near me.
There has also been stories about another earthquake hitting Japan. But the truth is, there is ALWAYS going to be another earthquake hitting Japan as it lies in the ring of fire, along several places where the tectonic plates meet. Earthquakes are not a chain reaction. They can't "set off" more earthquakes in the way that people are thinking. Japan has around 300 earthquakes every day but most of these are so small we do not feel them. The risk for another large one is the same as it always is in Japan and I was aware of this before I decided to come here.
Many of those who are not in Japan are buying into the media. They're reporting on it for the majority of the day, they have to make it interesting by playing it up and showing continual horror stories. I have done extensive research, read stories from England, America, and Japan, have talked to several other well informed individuals including my advisors and I believe my area to be completely safe at this time, as does the staff here at my Japanese University.
Despite believing this, I am pretty much being forced to leave Japan by my worried family and my University. So I'm going to take the opportunity and go on vacation to Australia for 2 weeks until the media reaction dies down. But I have the full intention of returning to Japan when it all blows over. In fact, I have already purchased a return ticket for the 8th and I am leaving the majority of my belongings here. I will be returning barring no new natural disasters occur. Thank you for your love and worry. Please pray for those who are actually experiencing this disaster up North.
Alana
