Shannon man’s home damaged by earthquake

ALTHOUGH he escaped injury in last week’s earthquake in Japan, Shannon man David O’Donoghue’s apartment wasn’t left unscathed.

Thirty-six-year-old David has lived in Japan for the past six years working as a teacher. He wasn’t at his home in the coastal city of Kamisu when the damage occurred.
“It was damaged by one of the earthquakes, probably the third earthquake of the day. I was in a different town and it took about two-and-a-half hours to get home but people who were around said it was the third one that was the worst here.”
He said that while the building is still standing, it will have to be demolished because of the damage.
A past pupil of St Conaire’s and St Caimin’s in Shannon, he said that while it is some distance from where the worst of the damage occurred, Kamisu was also hit by a tsunami, along with a serious of earthquakes.
While he admitted to having been shook by the disaster, he said he was more fortunate than many. “I won’t lie to you, it was very shocking and traumatic but I’m alive and everyone I know is alive and safe and well and coping,” he said.
David said he isn’t overly concerned about the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which is around 240km from Kamisu.
“To be honest, the national mood here is very definitely of anxiety and fear about what has happened and what could happen. But the media tend to report the worst-case scenario and if things stay as they are now, the only area that would be at risk of radiation is within 30km of the plant and anywhere outside of that should be alright.”
There are a lot of rice fields in the area near David’s home. He said the tsunami has done serious damage to local agriculture and that some farmers won’t be able to grow crops for the next two years.
David’s parents, Seamus and Margaret, live in Ballycasey Manor and he put their minds at ease by calling home quite quickly after disaster struck. “He rang about an hour after it so we knew that he was alive and he was ok, so we weren’t too worried then. He’s brave about things and he’d be good to handle a situation and to cope with things,” said Margaret.