CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa - Cara Underwood, left, Anthony Smith-Underwood, 10 a fifth-grade student at Bechtel Elementary School, and Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Underwood, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of northern camps, Facilities Engineers, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, pose with Anthony’s trophy and award letter after he won first place in a schoolwide spelling bee. As the winner, the fifth-grader qualified to compete in the 2011 Japan Times Spelling Bee in Tokyo.

Military family recounts earthquake experience
3/25/2011
by Lance Cpl. Jovane M. Holland, Marine Corps Bases Japan
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — As the Japanese soil heaved relentlessly beneath her and skyscrapers swayed menacingly above, Cara Underwood realized that this earthquake was nothing like the ones she had experienced while growing up in San Diego. Amid the chaos and terrified screams, she clutched her family tight and thought, “This is it.”

Spell Champion
Anthony Smith-Underwood was beyond ecstatic. After studying all year and winning first place in the Bechtel Elementary School Spelling Bee on Camp McTureous, he was on his way to Tokyo to compete in the 2011 Japan Times Spelling Bee.

The road hadn’t been easy.

“The word list we had to study had more than 1,000 words,” said Underwood, 10, a fifth-grader at Bechtel. “I wrote all of them five times each and my parents tested me every day before bed. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it.”

Underwood set out for Tokyo with his mother and father March 10, fully expecting to have the time of his life. None of them had any idea what events lay in store.

Earthquake
With their belongings safely stowed away at the New Sanno Hotel in Minato-Ku, Tokyo, the Underwoods took to the streets for some sightseeing March 11.

After exploring downtown Roppongi and eating a hearty meal at a café, the family decided to head back to the hotel so Anthony could study before the competition the next day.

Halfway down the escalator leading to the subway, the earth began to shake.

“We noticed the escalator shaking, and it got stronger and stronger,” said Cara. “An alert message came on over the intercom in Japanese, and people immediately started running for the stairs. We were already following the crowd when the translation sounded– ‘Evacuate the subway immediately.’”

The tremors steadily increased as the Underwoods ran into the street along with countless others searching for safety.
As the shaking grew stronger, so did terror among the crowd, said Cara.

“Women and children were screaming and crying, and some people were just standing in awe, while others recorded the scene,” said Cara. “Images of the Haiti earthquake came flooding through my mind, and for a moment, I thought we were all going to die right there in the street.”

The massive earthquake, which registered at a magnitude of 9.0, lasted for more than two minutes.

Aftermath
Once the shaking stopped, the Underwoods, sensing impending havoc, immediately hailed a cab and headed back to their hotel.

“My only concern was getting my wife and son to safety,” said Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Underwood, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of northern camps, Facilities Engineers, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler. “I knew it was important to get my family back to the hotel before transportation was impossible.”

As the taxi snaked through the congested streets, firefighters, policemen and other rescue personnel scrambled to assess the damage and help those in need.

As soon as the family walked into the lobby of their hotel, a crippling aftershock struck, turning them right back around into the street.

“After the first aftershock, they just kept on coming. Most of the guests ended up just staying in the lobby because we had to run out to the street every few minutes,” said Cara. “As night fell, more guests arrived saying they’d had to walk because of the trains and buses shutting down. One man even bought a bicycle on the street from a local resident so he could get back.”