During Spring Break, Wagner College business professor August Morar took a group of five students to visit the economic and political capital of one of the world’s strongest advanced economies: Japan.
On Friday afternoon, with only one more day left in their visit, Professor Morar and his students were visiting the Tokyo Stock Exchange when, at 2:46 p.m. local time (12:46 a.m. EST — Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of New York), a monster earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan, 231 miles away. The Tohoku earthquake, as geologists are calling it, was a magnitude 9.0 temblor, the fourth largest in the world since 1900 and the largest in Japan since modern instrumental recordings began 130 years ago.
That evening, Professor Morar e-mailed Campus Life Dean Ruta Shah-Gordon to update her on the status of his educational expedition, given the day’s events.
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 5:57 A.M. EST — This was the first e-mail message received from Prof. August Morar after the earthquake that struck northeastern Japan. It was sent at 7:57 p.m. Tokyo time, a little more than 5 hours after the main shock of the Tohoku quake:
Dear Wagner friends,
We are all safe. We were in the Tokyo Stock Exchange building when the earthquake happened. The earthquake shock was strongest ever experienced by our host Kazue Matsuura, manager at the TSE. The epicenter was 400 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, in Sendai.
Returning to our hotel from the exchange was difficult; all the subways were shut down, and no cabs were available. A trip that would have taken 10 minutes by subway ride took us 40 minutes to walk.
We are all well, in good moods and alert. After watching the news on TV, we checked with the front desk at our hotel for instructions. Except for a few broken windows, we did not see any damage to buildings in our neighborhood — buildings in Japan are designed to resist even powerful earthquakes. Restaurants and stores are open and welcoming customers.
We are scheduled to leave Tokyo on Sunday, March 13 at 9 a.m. Tokyo time. I will keep you updated on further developments.
FRIDAY MORNING, 9:46 A.M. EST — By this time, Campus Life staff had contacted the families of all the Wagner College students on the Tokyo trip, sharing with them the information above.
FRIDAY EVENING, 9:38 P.M. EST — Part of an e-mail from Dean Shah-Gordon to the families of students in Tokyo: I am writing to give you an update. I just spoke to Professor Morar (9:20 p.m. Friday EST, 11:20 a.m. Saturday in Japan). I conveyed the concerns some of you have called or written to me about, as we are all watching the CNN to keep abreast of the happenings over there. I know that many of your students have also been tuned in to CNN and that they are nervous. Professor Morar has been watching CNN and the local Japanese channel, which local officials have been translating for him. He assures me that our students are all safe and that the government is “in charge, concerned, and in control.” He has been checking in with the students regularly. Professor Morar feels that the government is doing all that it can, and that our group is safe. He is working diligently by calling the airlines to make sure their travel arrangements are secure. He will be contacting me with any updates. And I will most certainly pass them along to each of you.
SATURDAY MORNING, 8:43 A.M. EST — Dean Shah-Gordon sent an update to parents: I received an email at 4:40 a.m. EST (6:40 p.m. in Tokyo) from Professor Morar. It seems that after a long day of calling, e-mailing and negotiating with Air China, Professor Morar was able to schedule our group’s return to New York. They will fly out of Tokyo’s Narita Airport for Beijing on Sunday, March 13 at 12:20 p.m. Tokyo time. This is a delay of 4 hours from the original schedule. Due to this delay, they will miss the only Air China flight to New York and will have to spend a day in Beijing. Our group will depart from Beijing on Monday, March 14 at 1 p.m., and they are scheduled to arrive at JFK’s Terminal 1 at 2:30 p.m. As I hear any more information, I will be in touch.
SATURDAY EVENING, 9:51 P.M. EST — Dean Shah-Gordon e-mailed families: GREAT NEWS! Professor Morar was able to work it out so that the students are currently in the AIR coming HOME!! They were able to switch to a Japanese airline, All Nippon Airlines, and left at 11:35 a.m. Tokyo time (9:35 p.m. our time — about 10 minutes ago). They are on a non-stop flight to JFK that is scheduled to arrive at Terminal 7 tomorrow morning at 11:05 a.m. I have spoken with our Public Safety office, and we will have a van meet them at the airport to bring them back to campus. Thank you for your patience through this process. I know that it has been frightening and nerve-wracking. Professor Morar has done an incredible job of keeping everyone safe and calm and making sure they could get home as quickly as possible.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 12:20 P.M. EDT — Dean Shah-Gordon sent a final e-mail to several Wagner staff members: Everyone has landed safely, and those who were not met by parents at the airport are on the shuttle van going back to Wagner College. Once again, thanks go out to Professor Morar for ensuring the safety of our students.