Tremor Not An Ordinary Earthquake

Mohd Faizal Hassan
YAMAGATA (Bernama) - Malaysian student Helda Emelia Adesine's
recent routine outing for groceries here was disrupted when the town was struck
by a strong earthquake.

When Japan experienced the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11 which set
off a 10-metre high tsunami and damaged a nuclear plant, Helda, who hails from
Kota Kinabalu the capital of the east Malaysian state of Sabah, was heading out
of the supermarket to the car with her friends.

"Suddenly I felt like I was swaying until I fell down.

"I rushed into the car and waited for about five minutes until the tremor
ended before heading home," she said when approached by reporters at the Putera
1Malaysia Club humanitarian mission here.

The 23-year-old mechanical engineering student at Yamagata University said
what she thought was a small tremor was actually an earthquake, the strongest
she felt in her three years in Japan.

Helda is among 35 Malaysian students in Yamagata situated about 120km from
Miyagi -- two of the four prefectures badly affected by the disaster.

The other prefectures are Ibaraki and Iwate.

According to the club's president, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, the club would
distribute more aid to students and residents living in prefectures affected by
the tsunami and earthquake.

The Malaysian non-governmental organisation's mission, which is expected to
end on April 6, will hand over 200 tonnes of essential items to disaster
victims.

Nearly 10,000 people were killed while 16,000 others are still missing in
the twin disasters.