March 12, 2011
Kofu, Yamanashi, Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

By now, almost everyone has seen or heard about the massive 8.9 earthquake that hit near Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. In the past 24 hours we’ve received many inquiries as to our status here in Kofu, prayers, and good wishes for our (and others’) wellbeing. For that we sincerely thank all of you. We are touched that so many people have showed care and concern for our safety.

The first purpose of this message is to assure everyone that we are fine. Kofu is located several hours south of the hard-hit coastal city of Sendai, which took the brunt of the hit. We are surrounded by mountains so there is no risk of tsunami damage here.

As for the earthquake itself, I happened have the day off, so I was sitting on top of a mountain, strapping a snowboard to my feet when the quake hit. It was a very unusual feeling to have an entire mountain move beneath me. Bonnie was teaching a class at the time, and the students did as they had been taught during earthquake drills and took shelter underneath their desks. When the shaking stopped, all the schools in the area were evacuated and all students sent home early.

The intensity here in Yamanashi was about a low 5 on the Richter Scale, meaning that we were shaken up, but there was no damage. In the Prefecture, only one elderly person sustained minor injuries, and a few small items got knocked off shelves in places, many stores closed, probably due to power blackouts in some select areas. Overall though, everyone got through it just fine. Even though we are just an hour due West of Tokyo, which got hit a lot harder, I assure everyone that we are all fine here!

Many people at this point are wondering if there is anything that they may do to help the relief efforts that are already underway in many parts of Japan. Here in Yamanashi, we do not need anything in the way of supplies or emergency kits, as public infrastructure (power, water, gas, etc) are all in place. I also strongly discourage anyone from engaging in individual efforts to help, as they will likely be wasting both their time and money because the key to these relief efforts is to coordinate and ensure that money and resources are allocated to where they are needed most.

Again, I thank you all for your kind messages of support and concern. For those who feel that they would like to help in some tangible way, I’ve been in contact with a few people on the ground and who are involved in relief operations and have compiled a short list of tangible ways to lend a hand.

Kind Regards,

Jim Dunlop