Well this has certainly been an adventure. Yesterday morning, we were told that low levels of radiation were detected here on base. Of course after that the entire base was in a flurry of panic: parents pulling children out of schools, people emptying the commissary of bottled water and non-perishable items. Everyone lived in fear for about four hours until we received official word that the levels were so low that you would get more radiation on a two hour flight. Last night, a town meeting was held.
In the meeting, we were reassured of the extremely low levels of radiation: two bananas give off the same amount found here. Officials have advised us to take precautions, very conservative precautions, and say we should limit our outdoor activity and refrain from using heaters and air conditioners. When asked what level of radiation would evacuations take place, the number is many, many times higher. Nearly 10,000 times. That being said, everything here is fine. We have a long way to go before we need to worry.
The rolling blackouts began yesterday and sent the base into darkness for around three hours. Only the last hour did it really get dark as the sun set. Today power outages are expected to begin around noon and I'm curious to see how the children react. We have been conserving as much energy as possible through holding class with lights off and only turning on our computers for short periods of time.
Also last night an aftershock occurred which was pretty large. Not quite as large as the initial quake we felt but larger than the other aftershocks we have been through. Luckily, no damage was reported at the epicenter of this aftershock and the news channels have gone on to report about the tsunami victims. It seems as if people here do nit worry about an earthquake unless it has damaging effects. However for me, I literally get so shaken up it is hard to calm down.
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