Natural Catastrophe in Japan
This morning was supposedly going to be a very productive day, except I woke up to the horrific news happening in Japan. As cited by the Washington Post (2011) “The quake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time (12:46 a.m. in Washington) at a depth of 15 miles and about 80 miles off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, a mostly rural but still densely populated part of Honshu, Japan’s largest island”. This earthquake is supposedly the worst to hit Japan in it’s history and the fifth largest earthquake in the world since early 1900. The earthquake hit the city of Sendai, except the side effects were felt all around Japan. Japan is prone to earthquakes and they have prepared heavily for these terrible earthquakes. According to about.com, Japan has on average around 1,500 earthquakes every year… So Japan is well accustomed to being struck with earthquakes.
The main reason for such catastrophic power were the tsunamis that ended up striking the northeast islands of Japan. As I was switching between CNN and Fox News, I could not believe the pictures and video that was being broadcasted from individuals in Japan or from the NHK. These tsunamis were taking out houses and sweeping everything in their paths like they were building blocks…
Actually I have some friends in Japan, mostly in Tokyo, Nagoya and Kyoto. I have heard from two of my friends but one of my friends I have not heard from her. Please pray for their safety and especially for their families, because even though some of them might not have been hit by the earthquake/tsunami, maybe they have family in those areas. But also in general just pray for the Japanese people.
Lastly I wanted to point out a relief effort that the American Red Cross is doing. Right now if you text Redcross to 90999 then $10 will be donated to helping Japan. This $10 donation will automatically be added to your cell phone bill. This is not a lot of money and just think that if you were to not eat out once during the week that would probably help some Japanese family that is in need right now.
But judging from the speech President Obama gave today, I believe that the USA will be helping Japan out in any way that we can. Not only that but I have heard that Taiwan is donating a sum of 300,000 USD in support. This is of extreme importance to Japan, because their national credit limit has been downgraded recently (within the last month or so) and they are in a tremendous amount of debt. Funding aid and reconstruction supplies to these disaster areas will not be an easy task.
For those in Japan or have loved ones in Japan, I know it is difficult for you that are directly dealing with these atrocities, but we are praying for you all. It may seem hopeless right now, but God is still in control. He is there for you all and He is taking care of you all despite these circumstances. I hope you all will lean towards Him for understanding and peace. I hope this verse will give you some confort. God bless you all in Japan!
箴言 3:5
“心をつくして主に信頼せよ、自分の知識にたよってはならない。” YouVersion.com
Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” ESV- YouVersion.com
NPR News Story
Washington Post’s Update
BBC News Story
Red Cross
Fox News Response
Google’s Response
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