USC students react to disaster

USC students voiced their concern Friday over the devastation in Japan. 

Ayano Tsuchiya, a senior art history major, said she cried when she turned on the news. 

"It's really devastating to see that happen," Tsuchiya said. 

Tsuchiya is a Japanese citizen studying at USC. While Tsuchiya's parents live in the United States, the rest of her family resides in Japan. 

Another student, Christine Lee, said her entire immediate family, including her brother and parents, are in Japan. The majority of the damage affected farmlands in the north eastern Honshu area. Honshu is the largest island of Japan. 

Lee's mother felt the first earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks, according to Lee. 

Lee also said that when she watched the news on her computer she began to shake. She said it's hard not being able to really talk to her family members.

"If you can't communicate with then at all, there's nothing you can do," Lee said. "All you can do is wait."

The phones lines are reportedly clogged from the volume of calls trying to get through. Only residents of Japan worried about family in the areas affected and emergency calls are being let through.

Sophomore business administration major Sakurako Mori remains worried about her family as well. 

Mori tried to contact her family more than ten times by phone.

She said she had to use text messaging to reach her mother. Her father was at work in Tokyo during the quake and her mother was at home. 

"My mom was at home and she said it was the biggest earthquake she'd ever felt and it was the scariest experience in her life," Mori said. 

But Mori said her family and friends are safe. 

Mori is the vice-president of the Japanese Student Association on campus.