Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Then the words "Damage, fatalities rampant in Kobe" leapt off the page at her.
The fresh grapefruit she'd been eating was suddenly forgotten.
Kobe, the city that got the brunt of Tuesday morning's earthquake in Japan, is only 50 miles from Nishio's home in Kyoto.
"I couldn't believe it was near my Kyoto. I was in shock," said the 24-year-old visiting teacher at W.E. Cundiff Elementary School in Roanoke County.
Not that Nishio hasn't been in earthquakes before; she has. But they were nothing like Tuesday's quake that rocked western Japan, she said.
"In elementary school days we practiced for earthquakes. We go under the desks," she said.
That's what she's been telling the students at W.E. Cundiff.
Since Tuesday's quake, Nishio has become the school's resident expert. Two teachers have requested that instead of her usual lessons about Japanese culture, Nishio teach the students about earthquakes.
It temporarily takes her mind off her journeys to Kobe to visit the Suo Sea, and college trips to Osaka, which is about an hour and a half from Kyoto.
But as soon as she leaves the school, it all comes flooding back.
She's worried about her brother. He rides the train to college in Osaka every morning.
"What time was the earthquake? Do you know what time it happened?" she asked Wednesday, wondering if he was at home and safe when the earthquake occurred.
She's been trying to reach her family since Tuesday morning, but all she's gotten is an operator, whom she can't understand.
She's even called the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
"They have some information about Kobe, but they just say that Kyoto was damaged," she said.
The story is the same at the Roanoke Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. It is tracking down Roanoke-area family members in Kobe, Osaka, Nishinomiya and the Awaji Island free of charge. Concerned people can call 985-3560.
The U.S. State Department Citizens Emergency Services is handling inquiries on non-military U.S. citizens in Japan.
But neither service can help Nishio.
So, she'll continue watching CNN for updates and calling, hoping that one time it will be her mother's voice she'll hear on the other end of the phone, instead of the operator's.
by CNB