91原创 resident Masami Yakata was on the phone with a friend in Tokyo talking about the earthquake and tsunami when he suddenly went silent.
鈥淗ello?鈥� she asked.
鈥淗ere we go again,鈥� he said.
He sounded scared.
It was an aftershock, one of many that have rattled Japan since the 9.0 magnitude quake on Friday (March 11) that sent 10-metre tall waves as far as 10 kilometres inland, wiping out entire communities and killing thousands.
After a few fearful moments, the vibration subsided without injury to Yakata鈥檚 friend.
The Sendai earthquake is the strongest known tremor to ever hit Japan and one of the the five strongest earthquakes recorded anywhere since modern record-keeping began in 1900.
Since the quake hit, Yakata has been spending a lot of time on the phone or watching television, horrified by the images but unable to turn away.
鈥淚鈥檓 heartbroken,鈥� she said.
The first person Yakata called when the news broke was her mother, who lives far enough away from the centre of the quake to avoid serious damage.
It took about 30 minutes to get through and confirm her family was all right.
Then Yakata started tracking down friends.
One in particular was Tomomi, who Yakata met about 15 years ago when she first came to Canada.
Tomomi had come to Canada to learn English.
She moved back to Japan after a year and is now living in the hardest-hit area of the country.
It took three days, but Yakata finally made contact.
Tomomi e-mailed her to tell Yakata that she and her husband and children were fine, but a younger brother was missing.
Yakata remembers a mix of relief and sadness at the news.
鈥淚 was happy for a second and anxious the next,鈥� she told The Times.
It is all too familiar to the 39-year-old Yakata, who came to Canada not long after the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan that killed more than 6,000 people.
鈥淚 did this before ... to look for friends when Kobe got hit and I never thought I would have to look for friends a second time in my life,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 never thought [a quake like that would happen again].
She is grief-stricken about the devastation to her home country and outraged that some people are beginning to make jokes about the tragedy.
She is especially angry about Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who was fired from his job as the voice of the Aflac insurance duck after he posted a series of jokes about the quake on Twitter.
鈥淭here is nothing funny about this鈥� she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not funny at all.鈥�
Yakata is worried that Canadians will assume that the technologically advanced Japanese won鈥檛 need assistance.
鈥淭hey do need help,鈥� she said.
鈥淧eople lost everything they have.鈥�
She is urging her fellow 91原创 residents to make donations to the Canadian Red Cross, or any other relief agency that is sending help.
鈥淎nything that they feel right to do,鈥� she said.
鈥淧lease don鈥檛 hesitate.鈥�
