One thing that I forgot to mention was that on my trip to Tokyo, I had the privilege of singing with a choir. I got to hear from two of them via email (Arlene and Naoki), and I recently heard that the rest of the choir is doing fine. Great news indeed! As you may imagine, I've been clicking a lot of links these last couple of days. Here's a smattering of different interesting links that you may find useful:
More useful information in case you're in Japan
* If you feel compelled to donate, don't let me stop you. If you have a little bit of discipline and patience, I would recommend waiting to see what organizations are able to go there and actually help. A lot of charities ask for money right away, just in case, since most donations are made while disaster images flood the news.
Earthquake vocabulary - Useful if you know a little bit of Japanese and are watching the livestreams
Blood donations - in case you're in Japan
More useful information in case you're in Japan
* If you feel compelled to donate, don't let me stop you. If you have a little bit of discipline and patience, I would recommend waiting to see what organizations are able to go there and actually help. A lot of charities ask for money right away, just in case, since most donations are made while disaster images flood the news.
Japan Meterological Agency - a listing of all the quakes, updated in almost real-time
Artist images asking local residents to conserve on electricity - the infrastructure is taxed right now, necessitating blackouts this week
A breakdown of releases from Tepco, the energy company
The Next Day (a summary from a local writer) -
Before and After Satellite Images
Washington Post nuclear reactor diagram