In an unfortunate start to 2024, Japan was struck with two back-to-back disasters, leaving the country shocked and devastated. According to the BBC, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck the Japan Sea Coast on the first day of this year. Although most buildings in Japan are built to withstand earthquakes, the Noto peninsula was badly struck in this disaster, with buildings succumbing to the wrath of this deadly disaster. The loss of lives currently exceeds 100 as operations to find the missing continue.

A tsunami warning was issued soon after the earthquake struck, which was later reduced to an advisory after thorough risk assessment by authorities. “We have a lot of earthquakes in Japan, so at first I thought it was a normal earthquake. But then I
turned on the news in the car and the news reporter was screaming ‘evacuate’, and I was like ‘Oh, this is serious’,” said Eri Matsuoka ’27. Eri is an international student who was back home in Japan and driving a car when the earthquake struck. Fortunately, she was in Tokyo, which wasn’t affected by the earthquake.

Within a span of three days, Japan faced a second tragedy as a collision between Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350 and a smaller Japan Coast Guard flight left the country devastated. According to CNN, all 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines flightwere safely evacuated from the scene. Five of the six Coast Guard crew members, however, succumbed to their injuries and died on the spot.

Japanese authorities stated that the Japan Airlines plane had been given permission by the airport to land but the Coast Guard plane had not received any clearance to take off at the moment, according to transcripts from the control tower in Haneda Airport. This resulted in both the planes colliding with each other, further erupting into a terrifying fireball. “I feel kind of guilty to leave Japan because everyone is suf- fering and I came here. I wanted to do something to help them but I couldn’t,” Eri further said.

An emotion many international students empathize with is that of guilt about leaving home for their education, as they cannot be present with their loved ones, especially in such times of grief that leave everyone scarred.