On Friday, April 14 at 9:26 pm a 6.2 earthquake struck beneath Kumamoto City in Kyushu, Japan. I felt it in Tokyo even though it was 750 miles away. On Sunday, April 16 at 1:25 am, a much bigger 7.0 earthquake struck that same region. At least 41 people were killed, 3,000 were injured, and more than 44,000 have been evacuated from their homes. Over a million people are without gas, electricity, or water. All train service in Kyushu has stopped due to torn electrical lines, immobilizing over 13 million people. This is the strongest earthquake to hit Japan since March 11, 2011.
Another earthquake? It's too soon...
My pastor, Fukuda-Sensei, pulled together a team of 5 others to drive with him the 1200 km (750 miles) to Kumamoto. His wife has family in the area. His wife's father used to be pastor of Hakata Christ Church, a Baptist church in Fukuoka, which will likely serve as a base camp for disaster relief, collecting info of needs and locations, traffic situations, and coordinating efforts.
This is all too familiar...
I am one of the drivers. We are driving a relief van and 2 ton truck full of supplies. On Sunday, we collected supplies through Oyumino Christian Church in Chiba, Grace City Church and Grace Harbor Church in Tokyo, and Tsukuda LOVES, our neighborhood relief organization, in Tsukishima. (It used to be called "Tsukuda LOVES Tohoku", but the target area for relief work has expanded.)
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| Collecting supplies in my music studio |
The truck left Chiba at 5 am Monday morning to get us and
our collected goods in Tokyo. Halfway there, the front left tire blew up with a bang, followed by a thump thump thump thump...
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| Blown tire on relief truck |
After calling the insurance company, a tow truck
came, changed the tire, and the truck continued to a garage where 4 new tires were put on. (We sure did get a lot of mileage out of those tires!)
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| Filling the truck with supplies in Tokyo |
Departure was delayed 7 hours, and we did not get on the road until 1 pm. It is a 15 hour drive to Fukuoka plus rest stops, traffic, etc. (Holes in the road from the earthquakes?) It's going to be a long night. Tomorrow we will make the three hour drive to Kumamoto. Will keep you updated...
