http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake.scene/index.html?hpt=T1Concern about food, fuel shortages in wake of Japan disasters
Tokyo (CNN) -- Nicky Washida scoured her central Tokyo neighborhood looking for food Saturday, but was unsuccessful.
The convenience stores had already been stripped of food, batteries and most supplies when she visited in the wake of the previous day's massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake. She was hoping they had been able to restock, she wrote in a CNN iReport.
But on Saturday, the local shopping center was closed. And at the convenience stories, only alcohol-free beer and green tea-flavored candy remained.
"The one supermarket that is still open is so packed I couldn't even get through the doors," said Washida, a British woman who lives in Tokyo with her Japanese husband and their three children, ages 6, 4 and 1. "People in Tokyo seem to be panic-buying under the assumption that food will not be getting through to Tokyo for the next few days."
Stores across the city were mostly sold out of bread Saturday, said iReporter David Powell, who sent in photos of shelves bare but for a few rolls. While some loaves and rolls were available, he said, they were selling fast, as were dairy products.
Long lines persisted at food stores and at the pump as concern grew in Tokyo that food and fuel shortages may arise in the aftermath of the earthquake, which spawned a tsunami that devastated coastal areas of northeastern Japan.
Gas sales were being limited to 20 liters (5.3 gallons) per car, Powell said.
Thomas Nixon snapped a picture of empty shelves at a convenience store in the Tokyo suburb of Harajuku. He and his family stopped in because his wife and daughters wanted to get something to drink before walking to another family member's home. "I had a feeling the shelves would be bare," he said.
"The biggest problem we have right now is, there's no food anywhere," Ryan McDonald told CNN. "... All the convenience stores are closed. Grocery stores are closed. Everyone is on the road trying to find something open, and it's just gridlock everywhere."
Meanwhile, the threat of aftershocks persisted. Powell sent a photograph of a family shopping at the National Market in Tokyo with helmets on. Washida said her family slept together Friday night "to comfort the kids and just in case there were any more major aftershocks."
She said her daughter is worried about the aftershocks, but her 4-year-old son "thought it was cool, of course."
The aftershocks are coming regularly, at roughly three-hour intervals, said CNN iReporter Aaron Lace. "It's something that you would not wish upon your worst enemy," he said.
But, he said, some semblance of normalcy was returning to Tokyo, and while some "panic buying" did take place, there is food available.
Stores are out of baked goods and prepared lunches, or bento boxes, and juice, he said. But meat is available and rice is "in abundance. Nobody's starving."
Still, he said, "it's really quiet. It's unnervingly quiet."
"All stores are out of flashlights, are running low on batteries and are out of bread and water or are running low," iReporter Jessica Tekawa said. The bento boxes also are gone, she said, which is unusual for Japan.
Still, those in Tokyo know that their experiences pale next to those living in the hard-hit areas of northeastern Japan.
"Tokyo was bad, but we really had no idea until the news this morning just how bad it has been north of here," Washida said. "We have friends up near Sendai we are unable to contact, so we are worried about them."
In the hard-hit area of Sendai, CNN's Paula Hancocks reported long lines for food and fuel as well.
Janie Eudy of Pineville, Louisiana, told CNN that her husband, Danny Joe, was on the move south Saturday. He and other workers had been inside the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant when the quake struck.
She said he and others, driving rental cars, went to a nearby town in hopes of finding a hotel room, but the town was gone. They continue heading south trying to find shelter and food, Eudy said. Her husband told her a Japanese man was able to find enough food to make soup for 40 people on Friday.
Meanwhile, those in Tokyo appeared shell-shocked Saturday, Washida said. "People are walking around quietly, going about their business, but there is a strong sense that this is not just another ordinary Saturday. 'Dazed' is probably the best way to describe most of the faces I have seen today."
Evidence of the quake can be seen everywhere, she said -- "torn up paving stones, pieces fallen from buildings."
She has been focused on cleaning up her 17th-floor apartment. Every room suffered damage from the quake, she said. Asked if anything of value was lost, she said, "No, not really. We had some smashed photo frames, but the only thing of value to me is the family. Anything else can be replaced."
Lace, a Canadian, is allowing strangers to stay in his home because they have nowhere else to go, he told CNN. He was attending a college graduation at a Tokyo theater Friday when the roof collapsed because of the quake. He said he stayed at the scene and tried to help dig out survivors.
"It's really bad, it is," he said, adding the Japanese "are in a very gloomy mood."
