Saturday, March 12, 2011

Thousands of Tokyoites refuge in stations and offices in transport chaos

Tokyo. .- The strong earthquake rocked eastern Japónbloqueó tonight in Tokyo to hundreds of thousands of people who took shelter in shelters and stations or remained in their jobs because of the impossibility of reaching their homes. The world's most populous metropolis, with more than 30 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, transportation was collapsed by the temporary suspension of subway and commuter trains, along with obstruction of service of mobile phones.

Japanese government spokesman, Yukio Edan, asked the citizens of Tokyo to "shelter in safe places such as offices, while he called for people to make efforts not" too hard "to return to their homes. The spokesman warned that if everyone opted to return to their homes, sidewalks could have the same image that filled cars at rush hour.

Large areas such as sports halls have been used as makeshift shelters for Tokyoites, where they have provided blankets and drinks. Food stores also have opened their stores of food to allow the supply of the citizens of the capital, before the temporary suspension of rail services used by millions of people daily to get to work.

Some 23,000 passengers were left stranded in the airports Tokyoites, Narita and Haneda, which temporarily paralyzed after the quake activity. At 19.00 local time (10.00 GMT) resumed flights take off at Narita, but landings are still paralyzed. The quake, which had its epicenter in the Pacific Ocean 130 kilometers from the coast, was felt strongly throughout central and multiple traffic jams in the city's highest density of the planet, as the road became the only means of travel also walking on foot.

All rail services in the Japanese capital were suspended in the first instance, both the subway and the commuter, but a few hours later the earthquake began to gradually resume activity. On Friday afternoon, is also the time of largest gathering of people in the stations of the city, as well as the usual movement of the other weekdays are compounded by frequent trips to the capital for the weekend.

The railway connecting Tokyo to the north of the country, including the bullet train, canceled all services without anticipating resume "soon", as announced over the PA at the stations. The people of Japan also suffered large capital deficiencies for mobile phone, so that some cabins are crowded people to form lines of several meters.

The bus also had long lines, because for many it was the only way to return to their homes, which in most cases is several miles from where they come every day to work. Unable to communicate with their relatives, many citizens of Tokyo have chosen to advance to their homes, while food stores that populate the city offer food and care for its residents.

The worst earthquake in Japan's history that has left at least 59 dead and many injured and missing in northeast China has limited its impact on capital due to the packaging of their infrastructure in this type of tremor. The Tokyo subway began to resume some of its operations beginning at 21.00 local time (13.00 GMT).

No comments:

Post a Comment