University of Central Florida student Jonathan Ulrich and his friends were supposed to be on a subway heading for their hotel in Tokyo when an 8.9 magnitude earthquake rocked the island causing massive damage and triggering a tsunami that threatens the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cI accidentally got us lost, so we didn\u2019t end up getting on the subway on time,\u201d Ulrich said. That mistake may have saved the group\u2019s life. Instead Ulrich and friend Michael Tuttle rode out the record-setting quake in a caf\u00e9 near a Buddhist temple.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought we were just getting really tired and dizzy after a day of sightseeing,\u201d Ulrich said.<\/p>\n
They ran outside, and saw others holding onto lampposts, so they did the same. The shaking lasted for what seemed about a minute or two, said Ulrich. It felt like he was on a rocky boat.<\/p>\n
Little did they realize that the quake was so devastating. Early reports say dozens have been killed in the quake or the tidal wave that hit afterwards.\u00a0 Millions are homeless and the quake has triggered a tsunami that threatens Hawaii and the west coast of the United States some 5,000 miles away.<\/p>\n
The UCF students, who are traveling with a third friend from Titusville, Fla., were visiting the island during their Spring Break. Now they\u2019re simply trying to stay safe and find a way home.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll cell phones lines are down, and most transportation has stopped,\u201d said Ulrich\u2019s mother, Peggy Ulrich, who heard from her son via Skype overnight. \u201cJon and Mike are engineering students using their skills to Skype and find other alternatives to call and communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ulrich said the streets outside the hotel are gridlock. People are gathering at a Buddhist temple where there are no high-rise buildings that can come toppling down upon them as aftershocks continue.<\/p>\n
The group has access to food, water and shelter, but won\u2019t be flying back to Florida on Saturday as they had planned.\u00a0 They\u2019re safe, but shaken up, and thankful for the thoughtfulness and help they\u2019ve received from others.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is so kind to each other here,\u201d Ulrich said.<\/p>\n
Two other UCF students are at Japanese universities as part of our international study abroad program as is a faculty member. The Office of International Studies confirmed that they too are all safe.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile UCF officials are reaching out to nine international students from Japan studying at the university this semester. Rocky Blesso, cultural programmer for the International Services Center, said his office and the university\u2019s counseling center are trying to reach each student and offer assistance.<\/p>\n
“We’re deeply concerned about our Japanese students and have reached out to make sure that they are safe and that their families are safe as well,” Blesso said. “We have offered our support and will provide assistance in any way that we can.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"University of Central Florida student Jonathan Ulrich and his friends were supposed to be on a subway heading for their hotel in Tokyo when an 8.9 magnitude earthquake rocked the island causing massive damage and triggering a tsunami that threatens the United States. \u201cI accidentally got us lost, so we didn\u2019t end up getting on the subway on time,\u201d Ulrich…","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":21066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1566],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-21065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-life","tag-engineering"],"yoast_head":"\n