English Essay by Brian Southwick, Niigata City ALT

54 The Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　On Friday, March 11, I was at a meeting in Maki, Niigata City. At about 2:45 in the afternoon the building began to shake. Earthquakes usually don’t last very long, so I thought the shaking would soon stop. But it didn’t. I and some of the other teachers at the meeting became scared, and we went outside to wait until the earthquake was finished. After two or three minutes we went back inside, and someone said the quake was a “Strong 4” in Niigata City. At that time none of us knew that a powerful tsunami caused by this earthquake was racing towards the Tohoku coast.
　When I returned home later that day I turned on the television. I couldn’t believe the pictures I saw. Entire towns were destroyed by the tsunami, which in some places was more than 20 meters high. Like many people in Japan and around the world, I spent all that evening and night watching the news in shock.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　One month has now passed since that Friday in March, and many people are still in evacuation shelters. Some of them have no home because their home was washed away by the tsunami. Others cannot go home because they live too close to Fukushima Dai-ichi, the nuclear power plant damaged by the tsunami. Life for people in some of the shelters is quite difficult. There is not enough food, water, or medicine. In some of the shelters people cannot take a bath. People in the shelters are very worried about their future.
　The people in the Tohoku area need our help. Tohoku is far from Niigata City, so it is not easy to go there to volunteer. But there are evacuation shelters in Niigata City and Prefecture, and volunteers are needed to help at them. Recently I heard that students from a junior high school in Niigata City visited a shelter to help with cleaning. The internet and newspaper have information about volunteering to help the victims of March 11. A little help from everyone will make a big difference.
＜注＞
earthquake（地震），shake（揺れる），last（続く），scared（怖がって），quake（揺れる）
strong 4（震度４），none of us（私たちの誰も〜ない），racing＜race（迫っている）
towards（〜の方へ），entire（全部の），destroyed＜destroy（破壊する），in shock（ショックで）
evacuation shelters（避難場所），close（近い），nuclear power plant（原子力発電所）
medicine（薬），prefecture（県），recently（最近）， victims（犠牲者）





Question and Answers:　Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.


Q1. When was the Tohoku Earthquake?
A1.　

Q2. Why did Brian think the shaking of the building would soon stop?
A2.

Q3. What did Brian do the evening and night of March 11?
A3.

Q4. Who recently volunteered at a shelter in Niigata City?
A4.

Q5. Where can we get information about volunteering?
A5.





＜解答例＞

A1. It was on Friday, March 11.

A2. Because he thought earthquakes usually don’t last very long.

A3. He spent all that evening and night watching the news in shock.

A4. Students from a junior high school in Niigata City visited a shelter to help with cleaning.

A5. We can get it from the internet and newspaper.