Japan Quake Affects D.C. Area Residents, Abroad and at Home

(The Washington Post) The Facebook status update was all Katherine Grossman of Capitol Hill had to rely on to know that her good friend, an English teacher in Sendai, Japan, was safe after Friday’s devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake.

“The first thing she posted was that she was in the auditorium and the principal was giving a boring speech when it happened,” said Grossman, 28, who was in Sendai as a translator from 2004 to 2007. “The electricity was out and her computer was broken, and everything in her apartment was all over the place. She’s cold, and people were building a bonfire outside to keep warm.”

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