Now over 24 hours later, the cell phones are still not fully functional. We were able to call out from Japan, but any attempts for calls coming into country were not successful in reaching us. It took an hour to get the house phone line working, but still it was a bit limited, not all calls were getting through.
We kept EchoLink connection open for several hours and checked in a few times to reassure that we were ok. Within the hour, they lifted the Tsunami warning, which made for some sigh of relief.
The family wanted to call, but I asked them to stay off the phone lines, as they could become overcrowded as the extent of the emergency became more apparent. I asked Mark to track down the family and get the message that we were ok, and that everything was fine at our location. He asked me to wait a few minutes, but I replied that we where in a slight emergency situation, and that I did not know if or how long I would be able to maintain communications. I quickly jumped into EchoLink mode and contacted N1JIM in Maine. Now worrying about how we could let our families know we were ok, we discovered that our Internet connection was still working. Then checked the local AFN radio again - no news I rushed home and attempted our house phone - dead. Next door, the Japanese news via satellite stated they were expecting a 5 Meter Tsunami to hit a city that was about 2 hours drive to the north. The local radio did not broadcast anything. I made sure our home was in good shape, and then went next door to find out what happened, because our access to English speaking news was zero and/or delayed at best. The house moved back and forth for about 30 seconds, a few items fell over and off my desk upstairs, including my EchoLink radio. Please follow along as the morning unfolded.Īfter it hit, things did not seem too bad. So, I'd like at add a small story to those "anti-EchoLink" people. Please keep in mind this is the first earthquake in this area in the past 300 years. Most people may dismiss this as small due the reports of a single death, and several home damaged. It was around a 4 on the Richter scale in our area and lasted only 30 seconds. Well, just in case you missed the news, we had an earthquake yesterday 20MAR05. Finding Elmer’s and staying active with HAM radio is a challenge and with a modest setup I work on managing an EchoLink-L station on the weekends when I can tinker and stay in contact with N1JIM in Maine and KJ0L-R in Iowa. I am an amateur radio operator currently serving the US Navy, while stationed in Sasebo Japan.