Reaction to Earthquake Video

Earthquake Video

           I remember hearing about the earthquake that occured in Japan that caused a tsunami, but I never really thought much of it since I just figured it was like any other normal natural disaster.  After watching this video however, I can see that my thoughts were clearly incorrect.

          From just seeing one of the opening scenes where there were hundreds of cubes of scrap just sitting on a beach immediately opened my eyes to the magnitude of the situation.  Even though it has been about a year and a half since the actual event occured, little progress has been made.  Cities still have rubble, junk is organized but not yet disposed of, and many people still live in shelters.  Because no gas was available, people would often search on foot for lost loved ones, usually ending up at some shelters hoping they made it there.  More often than not however, people would be out of luck locating their relatives. 

          Some of the people who were interviewed I found fascinating as to what they did before and after the earthquake struck.  One man had a chef's license, but did not think his skills would make a difference since thousands upon thousands of people were in need of food.  His son however told him to definitely get involved because Japan needed him.  The happiness he felt from helping out was evident on his face, and he even joked about his kid saying that he should take a break from it.  Another woman taught piano and was a swim coach.  Since the post earthquake however, both her piano and the pool was destroyed.  She hopes to someday be able to get another piano but what surprised me is what she explained about her future with swimming.  She does not think she would be able to teach swimming because all the water scarred her along with potential students since so many people drowned/were killed by the water.

           Overall, I thought the video was very informative about Japan's current situation and it really showed that a little bit of help can indeed go a long way.