I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 Read online

  Dad was in Ben’s mind, in his heart.

  He always would be.

  The plane started to move forward, faster, faster, faster.

  Harry grabbed one of Ben’s hands. Mom took the other.

  Ben held on tight.

  And together they began their journey home.

  Japanese is a difficult language to learn, and there are many words and terms that don’t translate easily into English. One of those words is gaman, which means to be strong and patient even when something terrible is happening.

  The Japanese pride themselves on their gaman spirit, which has enabled the country to rebuild after terrible events — from the earthquake and fires that destroyed Tokyo in 1923, to World War II, which devastated the country in the 1940s. And it is this same kind of strength and determination that is helping millions of Japanese to recover from the horrifying events of March 11, 2011.

  The series of disasters that began that day is known as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The disaster was, in fact, three separate events. Each was destructive and terrifying and could have filled an entire I Survived book.

  First there was a powerful earthquake, which hit at 2:46 P.M. under the floor of the Pacific Ocean, about eighty miles from a stretch of Japan’s northeastern coast called Tohoku. Most earthquakes last a few seconds. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 lasted for thirty seconds. The Tohoku earthquake lasted, in some areas, for more than five minutes.

  Five minutes!

  To get a sense of what this was like, you can do what I did one morning: set a timer and just sit in a chair for five minutes. And then try to imagine, as you’re sitting there, that your whole house is shaking, that the air is filled with an explosive roar, and that you are in a state of absolute terror.

  It must have been an incredible relief when the shaking finally stopped. Except that the worst was yet to come — a massive tsunami, triggered by the quake.

  People in coastal Japan know that tsunamis — a series of massive, powerful ocean waves — often follow earthquakes. If you walk in the hills above Japan’s coast, you can find “tsunami markers,” slabs of stone built to show where past tsunamis reached. These markers were created by survivors of these tsunamis, and were meant to warn future generations of the dangers of living too close to the ocean in a region prone to these disastrous waves. The markers are engraved with messages: “Don’t build below this spot,” one says. “Tsunami reached here,” says another. Some of these stone markers are more than five hundred years old.

  But few communities have obeyed these ancient warnings. Coastlines in Japan, like those here in the United States, are crowded with homes and shops and factories. Like Americans, most Japanese people have confidence that modern science and technology will protect against nature’s power. Indeed, Japan has the best tsunami warning system in the world, and in many coastal areas, massive seawalls have been built to guard against tsunamis. Within minutes of the March 11 earthquake, alerts were broadcast all along the coast. Sirens blared. Cell phones chirped. TV stations warned people to head to higher ground.

  But the seawalls and warnings were no match for nature’s power. In some areas, the waves were more than one hundred feet high. Seawalls crumbled like sand castles. Boats were flung to the rooftops of buildings. Many people tried to escape to higher ground — but the wave followed them. Some of the towns that were destroyed were five miles from the sea, areas nobody believed were within reach of a tsunami.

  Thousands and thousands of people were killed on March 11, 2011. Thousands more were injured and thousands are still missing. Hundreds of thousands of homes were damaged or washed away. Entire towns were obliterated.

  And yet, when the waters finally retreated, another disaster was unfolding at a nuclear power station called Fukushima Daiichi. The earthquake and wave had damaged the power station. Soon, toxic smoke and steam were leaking into the air. The clouds contained tiny particles that were radioactive — and extremely dangerous to humans and animals. Breathing in a small amount of these particles can make a person very sick.

  Two hundred thousand people, who had managed to survive the terror of the quake and the tsunami, had to flee the toxic cloud that spread for miles around the power station. Two years later, most people have not returned. Several towns were so badly contaminated with radiation that they had to be completely abandoned, becoming ghost towns, their streets lined with empty houses, shops, and schools. Decades will pass before the towns will be safe enough for humans to live there again.

  Each I Survived book requires months and months of research and writing. Most of the time, when I’m finished, I can almost imagine what it was like for the people living through the events I’m writing about. I could feel the terror of seeing a shark swimming toward me in a creek. I could practically smell the cannon smoke wafting across a Civil War battlefield. I could hear the screaming winds of a hurricane in my mind.

  But the Tohoku disaster was so enormous, I really can’t begin to imagine what it was like — the terror, the destruction, the exhaustion, the despair.

  What I do feel — deep in my heart — is admiration for the millions of people of the Tohoku region and throughout eastern Japan who are rebuilding their towns and their lives, who are determined to move forward, and for the gaman spirit that guides them.

  The Earthquake

  The earthquake had a magnitude of 9.03. It was the strongest ever known to have hit Japan. It was the fourth-largest earthquake ever recorded in history. It struck eighty miles off the northeastern coast of Japan, under the Pacific Ocean. For several days, strong aftershocks rocked the region, causing further damage and fear.

  The Tsunami

  The word “tsunami” is a Japanese word that literally means “harbor wave.” A tsunami is not one wave, but a series of waves. The first in the series is often not the biggest. Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes that occur under the ocean floor. They can also be caused by landslides, volcanic eruptions, or meteor crashes. A tsunami is different from regular ocean waves, which are caused by wind moving over the ocean’s surface.

  The Tohoku tsunami was hundreds of miles long, and destroyed towns, villages, and cities along more than three hundred miles of Japan’s northeastern coast. The Tohoku tsunami was one of the largest ever recorded. On some parts of the Japanese coast, waves were more than one hundred feet tall. The water traveled as far as five miles inland.

  The Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

  To help you understand what happened in the Fukushima Daiichi plant — and why it was so dangerous — I first need to tell you a bit about electricity.

  The electricity you use in your house and at school — for lights and computers and watching TV — is created at huge power plants. There are about 6,600 of these plants in the United States. Different power plants create, or generate, electricity in different ways.

  Most power plants in the United States and around the world are fueled by coal. Others are fueled by gas, sun (solar power), water (hydro power), or wind. But thousands of power plants — including the one at Fukushima Daiichi — use nuclear power.

  My friend Sally is a scientist, and she’s willing to sit down with you and explain everything about nuclear power. But that would take a few hours. So here’s the really, really short version: At nuclear power plants, a chemical reaction creates extreme heat. The heat is used to boil water. The water creates steam, which is used to generate electricity.

  Usually, nuclear power works well. In fact it’s “clean” energy, which means that it doesn’t pollute the air. But if a nuclear plant is damaged, things can go very wrong, very quickly.

  That’s what happened at Fukushima. The quake and wave damaged the power plant and knocked out electricity. Fires broke out. Steam, smoke, and water escaped from the plant. The clouds and water that escaped were filled with tiny particles that contain radioactive energy, which can be very dangerous to humans. These particles don’t just go away. There is no way to clean
them up. They stay dangerous — some for decades or even centuries.

  Statistics of the Tohoku Disaster

  Nearly 16,000 people died

  More than 6,100 people were injured

  2,668 people are still missing

  Nearly 130,000 buildings were destroyed (roughly 1 million more were badly damaged)

  The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck

  A novel about a tsunami that hit a fishing village in Japan centuries ago.

  National Geographic Witness to Disaster: Tsunamis, by Judy and Dennis Fradin

  Tells the story of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with lots of great information about how these giant waves are formed and their impact.

  Sources

  Many readers have asked me what sources I use in researching my I Survived books. A complete list of the books, websites, and other sources that I used to create I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 can be found on my website, www.laurentarshis.com.

  George Calder must be the luckiest kid alive. He and his little sister, Phoebe, are sailing with their aunt on the Titanic, the greatest ship ever built. George can’t resist exploring every inch of the incredible boat, even if it keeps getting him into trouble.

  Then the impossible happens — the Titanic hits an iceberg and water rushes in. George is stranded, alone and afraid, on the sinking ship. He’s always gotten out of trouble before … but how can he survive this?

  Chet Roscow is finally feeling at home in Elm Hills, New Jersey. He has a job with his uncle Jerry at the local diner, three great friends, and the perfect summer-time destination: cool, refreshing Matawan Creek.

  But Chet’s summer is interrupted by shocking news. A great white shark has been attacking swimmers along the Jersey shore, not far from Elm Hills. Everyone in town is talking about it. So when Chet sees something in the creek, he’s sure it’s his imagination … until he comes face-to-face with a bloodthirsty shark!

  Barry’s family tries to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina hits their home in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. But when Barry’s little sister gets terribly sick, they’re forced to stay home and wait out the storm.

  At first, Katrina doesn’t seem to be as severe a storm as forecasters predicted. But overnight the levees break, and Barry’s world is literally torn apart. He’s swept away by the floodwaters, away from his family. Can he survive the storm of the century — alone?

  Ever since Danny’s mom moved him to Hawaii, away from the dangerous streets of New York City, Danny has been planning to go back. He’s not afraid of the crime or the dark alleys. And he’s not afraid to stow away on the next ship out of Pearl Harbor.

  But that morning, the skies fill with fighter planes. Bombs pound the harbor. Bullets rain down on the beaches. Danny is shocked — and, for the first time, he is truly afraid. He’s a tough city kid. But can Danny survive the day that will live in infamy?

  Leo loves being a newsboy in San Francisco — he needs the money but the job also gives him the freedom to explore the amazing, hilly city as it changes and grows with the new century. Horse-drawn carriages share the streets with shiny automobiles, businesses and families move in every day from everywhere, and anything seems possible.

  But early one spring morning, everything changes. Leo’s world is shaken — literally — and he finds himself stranded in the middle of San Francisco as it crumbles and burns to the ground. Can Leo survive this devastating disaster?

  The only thing Lucas loves more than football is his dad’s friend Benny, a firefighter and former football star. He taught Lucas the game and helps him practice. So when Lucas’s parents decide football is too dangerous and he needs to quit, Lucas has to talk to his biggest fan.

  On a whim, Lucas takes the train to the city instead of the bus to school. It’s a bright, beautiful day in New York. But just as Lucas arrives at the firehouse, everything changes … and nothing will ever be the same again.

  It’s 1863, and Thomas and his little sister, Birdie, have fled the farm where they were born and raised as slaves. Following the North Star, looking for freedom, they soon cross paths with a Union soldier. Everything changes: Corporal Henry Green brings Thomas and Birdie back to his regiment, and suddenly it feels like they’ve found a new home. Best of all, they don’t have to find their way north alone — they’re marching with the army.

  But then orders come through: The men are called to battle in Pennsylvania. Thomas has made it so far … but does he have what it takes to survive Gettysburg?

  Lauren Tarshis is the editor of Scholastic’s Storyworks magazine and group editorial director for language arts for Scholastic classroom magazines, in addition to being the author of the I Survived series and the critically acclaimed novels Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love. She lives in Westport, Connecticut, and can be found online at www.laurentarshis.com.

  Text copyright © 2013 by Lauren Tarshis

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, September 2013

  Cover art by Steve Stone

  Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-56010-8

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.