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Former Weyburn woman relates earthquake experience:

The experience of going through the strongest earthquake in Japan's history was "terrifying" for a former Weyburn resident who now teaches English in Tokyo, while the concern for a former resident of Japan living in Weyburn was that his family is all
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Mary Fish, daughter of Dale and Anna Fish of Weyburn and a graduate of the Weyburn Comp, has been a teacher for the last four and a half years in Japan.



The experience of going through the strongest earthquake in Japan's history was "terrifying" for a former Weyburn resident who now teaches English in Tokyo, while the concern for a former resident of Japan living in Weyburn was that his family is all right.

A devastating earthquake that measured 8.9 on the Richter scale hit the island nation on Friday, and produced a deadly tsunami wave that washed away whole villages on the northeastern shore of Japan. There are tens of thousands missing or dead as a result, and as of presstime, there were major concerns over a nuclear reactor in Fukushima with fears of an imminent nuclear disaster.

Mary Fish, daughter of Dale and Anna Fish of Weyburn and a graduate of the Weyburn Comp, has been a teacher for the last four and a half years in Japan. As such, she has felt many tremors before, and when this latest earthquake began as she taught class, she thought it would just be another one that would last five seconds.

"After the first five seconds, I told my students that maybe they should get under their desks. Then the shaking's intensity increased and I told the students more forcefully to get under the desks. The shaking continued and the intensity grew. I shouted for the kids to get under the desks and ran to the hallway to usher the kids in the hall into the room. I was standing in the doorway, but soon decided that I too should be under a desk. Some of the students were screaming and some crying. From under my desk, I kept telling them that it was going to be okay, that we would be safe, and that it would be over soon. Truly though, I was terrified, and really not sure if everything was going to be okay," she said, noting the violent shaking went on for about a minute.

Shortly after the shaking stopped, the evacuation alarm went off, so Mary distributed helmets to the children and they evacuated the building to make sure everyone was all right. The group of students and teachers gathered in a nearby car park, and had to remain there for two hours as the school building was still shaking and was not safe to enter.

"There were continuous aftershocks, one of which was so strong that we all had to crouch down and brace ourselves. Everyone, Japanese and foreigners alike, were shaken up by the experience," she said.

Another former Weyburn resident, Richard Nedelcov, who teaches in Tokyo was likewise shaken up but is okay; he is the son of Jim and Marlene Nedelcov of Weyburn. He and wife Yuki, a Japanese national, live in Tokyo, and sent an e-mail message on Friday morning that they were all right.

"He said he was in the shower when it hit, and right away the gas lines were turned off," said his sister, Susan Nedelcov-Anderson.

"They're dealing with the aftershocks. Richard's wife is Japanese, and her mother lives in a northern part of Japan. They couldn't contact her at first because the phone lines were jammed up, but finally they were able to get a phone call from her and she is all right."

Richard teaches at a preparatory school as well as at the university in Tokyo. "They do have little tremors that's just something they live with, but this was much more powerful. There's a lot of concern about the nuclear power plants."

On Monday night, he e-mailed, "Places that are normally bustling with people are eerily quiet. We're continuing to work at my school as usual, but there are fewer students coming and the teachers are glued to the Internet whenever they get the chance. They're extremely interested in the latest updates and they're very concerned about others who lack food and water and medical care."

Meantime, Weyburn resident Taka Iida, who resides here with his Canadian wife, Ramona, and son, has family and friends in Japan, and as far as he has been able to find out, all of them are safe.

"I talked to my mom and dad, who live in Sapporo. They felt the shaking and everything; it was quite big, but they're safe," said Taka, adding they live on the Sea of Japan, which was not affected by the tsunami waves.

His sister and family live in Nagoya, which is located a little southwest of Mount Fuji, and is quite far from the epicentre of the earth quake, so they are all right as well.

As for the area which was worst-hit, between Tokyo and Sendai, Taka noted he has no family or friends who live in this region, so he was thankful they were all safe.

Asked how she handled the situation with the students in her class, Mary commented, "Everyone was shaken. Some were crying and fearful that the buildings around us would collapse. I kept reassuring them that Japan was very prepared for earthquakes and that the buildings were made to withstand them."

As for how everyone is handling things afterwards, Mary acknowledged that life is more or less normal for her in Tokyo, but many residents are concerned about helping those in the devastated areas, and of course what might happen if the nuclear plants have a meltdown.

"We know about the immense devastation that has happened and continues to happen to the north of us. It is truly heart-breaking to watch. Also, regular and large aftershocks constantly remind us that the earth is not yet settled, and there are reports that another large earthquake can be expected.

"The Japanese people seem to be bonding together to help each other get through this tough time. There are planned power outages for Tokyo, but I know that many households are already trying to conserve power," said Mary. "I have also seen people out on street corners already collecting funds for emergency relief."

With the concerns about the nuclear power plants ongoing, she said some Japanese and a number of foreigners have decided to leave the area to travel either to southern Japan, or to a neighbouring country like Korea or Hong Kong. She herself will be taking a trip to Malaysia from Mar. 18 to 27, for spring break.

"I pray for the people of Japan. I hope the people of Canada, and Saskatchewan too, will also keep the people in their prayers and will be generous with their support. Japan is in a state of crisis, and will need much support from the international community to heal," said Mary.

As of Tuesday morning, the number of dead or missing topped 6,000, and hundreds of thousands of people were homeless. Hundreds or thousands of bodies have been washing up on shore on the northeast coast, with the death toll expected to rise over 10,000.

Meantime, with the situation at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima worsening, the prime minister said this is the greatest crisis to face the country since the Second World War. A French nuclear expert upgraded the severity of the nuclear accident to level 6 out of a scale of 7 on the international scale.

In the worst-hit areas, some 100,000 Japanese soldiers are carrying out a search and rescue operation, trying to find any survivors possible amidst all the rubble, and support or rescue teams are being accepted from Korea, Britain, France, China, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore, with the U.S. moving Navy ships into place to also offer help.

Aftershocks have been continuing to hit the country, and a new smaller earthquake hit southwest of Tokyo measuring just over 6 on the Richter scale, causing buildings in Tokyo to shake. Many of the aftershocks were stronger, with one measuring 7.5.