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Courtesy photo / Stetson University professor Becky Oliphant tells CNN in an iReport posted on the cable giant's website on the disaster in Japan that her contigent was unhurt when the quake struck Friday, though one student got separated from the group for 90 minutes.
DELAND -- Stetson University professor Becky Oliphant and Gary Oliphant, also on the Stetson faculty, were in Japan on a week-long, business-study trip during spring break when they got caught up in the devastation of Friday's massive earthquake, prompting her to file an iReport with CNN.
Courtesy photo / Stetson contingent is all smiles before disaster struck in Japan. There were no injuries reported in the group."They were at Tokyo Disney meeting with an exec there when the earthquake hit," Stetson University spokeswoman Cindi Brownfield told NSBNews.Net at 2 this morning.
Brownfield said the Disney personnel took very good care of the Stetson group.
"They were able to collect their belongings and then took what ended up being a 16-hour bus ride to the airport (it would normally take an hour)," Brownfield said. "Now they're waiting for flights home, which they're hoping to catch today (Sunday)."
Brownfield added, "Stuart Michelson, dean of the School of Business Administration, has been in touch with Becky Oliphant throughout the situation and he says the group is in good spirits, with plenty of food and they're being well taken care of."
Here is the iReport filed with CNN by Becky Oliphant:
13 students two professors and our tour operator were visiting Tokyo Disneyland when the quake hit. We all were together except for one student who we found an hour and a half later. Everyone had to sit down for about two hours. The staff from the hotel brought us towels and blankets. For the most part everyone stayed very calm. We just finished a 10 hour bus ride back to our hotel where we have a room for one more night. Do not know if we will fly home on Saturday as the airport is closed.
We are from DeLand, Florida.
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FAST FACTS
Here is an update on the situation in Japan as reported by CNN and other news agencies attruibuted below:
Reports from an Italian institute estimated that Japan earthquake shifted Earth on its axis by as much as 4 inches, CNN said. The official death toll from the 8.9-magnitude temblor and subsequent tsunami that engulfed northern coastal towns reached 801, with 678 more missing and 1,437 injured, the National Police Agency said. Prime Minister Naoto Kan will send 100,000 Self-Defense Forces personnel into the devastated areas around Sendai, a city of 1 million people, for search-and-rescue efforts, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said today.