Canadians struggle to reach loved ones in Japan

Thousands of Canadians have called the Department of Foreign Affairs hotline trying to reach friends and relatives in Japan since an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck the country Friday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he spoke Friday with Japan's ambassador to Canada. "I offered any support and assistance that may be needed by that country," Harper told a news conference in Guelph, Ont.

"Our officials at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo are working with Japanese authorities to determine whether any Canadians have been injured by the earthquake or the tsunami."

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told CBC News the line had received 4,500 calls by Friday afternoon. Extra staff members were been brought in to deal with the flood of calls, he said.

"In each case a file is opened," he said. "We follow that very, very precisely, and we get back to the people as fast as we can."

Cannon told Evan Solomon on Power & Politics there were no indications yet of Canadians injured or killed in the disaster, but they estimate that 11,000 Canadians are in Japan. Of those, 1,500 are registered with the government and 13 of the registered Canadians are in the affected area, he said.

"Of course, Canada's thoughts are with the affected people and with a number of Canadians who have dear ones there," he said. "So we have indicated to the Japanese authorities that if Canada can assist in any way, we'll look at it and we'll be happy to do so."

About 98,900 Canadians have Japanese roots, according to the 2006 census. It’s estimated about 20,000 Japanese-Canadians reside in the Greater Toronto Area, said James Heron, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre executive director.

The Canadian Red Cross quickly launched a Japan earthquake/tsunami fund. In the first nine hours, officials told CBC News that Canadians had donated $176,000.

No connection yet for concerned Torontonian

Koko Kikuchi of Toronto tried for hours to contact his family, hoping for any word at all.

"Nothing worked so far," Kikuchi, a 55-year-old business consultant, said Friday. "I can't connect with them."

His mother and sister live in Oshu, an inland city in Iwate prefecture, located in the hard-hit northeastern part of Japan.

Death toll reports from Japan vary, but hundreds are believed dead after the magnitude 8.9 quake hit, followed by a tsunami that swamped communities.

When not busy trying to track his own loved ones, Kikuchi, who's lived in Canada for 27 years, has been busy on the computer, emailing any information he comes across to a 35-member Iwate prefecture club he represents.

Among other pieces of information, he sent members of the club emergency contact information from the prefectural government. Not that it'll do them any good, since many phone lines in Japan are down or busy.

"I just can't do anything right now," Kikuchi said. "I'm just waiting. I can't even have breakfast yet. I'm not here. It's really difficult."

Dean Smith, 30, of Trail, B.C., was luckier. His Japanese wife, who was supposed to arrive in Canada on Friday afternoon, along with their two young daughters, was able to reach him.

"I knew they were en route to Canada but there was no way I could get a hold of them until they got a hold of me," said Smith, who first heard from his wife at 3:30 a.m. PT.

'Like camping' at airport

His wife, Kyoko, her sister and the two young girls, Maya, 18 months, and Sara, one month, are stranded at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, where they've been given beds in a makeshift shelter.

"She said it’s like camping right now," Smith said. "They're all tired. They haven't really slept. The little girl is all wound up because she's like, 'What's going on?'"

Cannon said his understanding is that airport services are coming back and that Air Canada has told the government they have two aircraft in that region ready to act.

Some Canadians in Japan, meanwhile, turned to the internet to communicate their status to loved ones back home.

Yuri Komuro, 30, who lives in Tokyo, said she made a point of posting on Facebook as soon as possible that she was fine, hoping the message would get to her family in Markham, Ont.

"The phone lines are all busy," Komuro wrote in an email. "Forget about mobile phones."

She has lived in earthquake-prone Japan for 4½ years but never felt a temblor so strong, describing the shaking as horizontal as well as vertical.

"The swaying gradually got violent," Komuro said. "My hands were shaking, panicking. … I am still getting goosebumps all over my body."

Durham MP Bev Oda also has family in Japan. She released a statement letting people know that her family is OK.