Hope





compiled by//Samantha

 At 2:46 p.m. on March 11^th, 2011, the floor of the Pacific Ocean began to quake 80 miles from the coast of Japan. This was the beginning of a 9.0 rated earthquake. This earthquake was the fourth strongest earthquake in the world in the past 100 years. This was also the strongest ever on record in Japan. The earthquake also triggered a huge tsunami with waves as high as a 3 story building. The tsunami swept away ships, cars, houses, and even entire cities! It caused many fires to sweep across the land. There were also many aftershocks from the earthquake.                             

            Combined, these two disasters caused much damage. There are thousands of people missing in Japan, and an estimated 10,000 killed. Also, there are more than 440,000 people living in temporary shelters. There are also many food shortages, water shortages, and fuel shortages.

            The Fukushima Daiichi power plant has its own problems. Four of their nuclear reactors have overheating problems, so crews and helicopters have been dumping seawater into them. Explosions and fires are still causing some radiation to escape.

            The Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said, “In the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and most difficult crisis for Japan.” This might actually be true. Many countries are trying to help Japan, including the U.S. and China, but there isn’t much they can do.

            After all of this there is still some hope left. Search and rescue crews have rescued about 1,500 people already, but it’s getting harder and harder to find survivors each day. That doesn’t mean that miracles still can’t happen. A four month old baby was rescued on March 14^th from some rubble and was reunited with her father. She has become somewhat a symbol of strength to her nation.




                  

              The four month year old baby in a pink bear costume