Citizen Byte: Japan Earthquake - Yuri Komuro

Residents view the devastation wrought by the tsunami that smashed vehicles and houses at Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan. (STR/AFP/Getty)

Yuri Komuro (in photo with her husband), 30, is a Canadian working for an IT company in Tokyo. She has lived in Japan since 2006. Komuro sent this email to CBC News describing Friday's earthquake.

As you already know, we get lots of earthquakes here in Japan but not as strong as the one I have felt.

I was on the 14th floor of an 18-floor building. The blinds swayed violently as well as the cabinet. The first strike felt like more than couple of minutes.

Then another one came [a] couple of minutes after ... Colleagues on the first floor stepped outside (which you should avoid doing because of falling objects/glass) [and] saw our building sway back and forth.

The phone lines were all busy -- forget about mobile phones. Transportation stopped. People started to walk home around 4 p.m. local time while there was light out.

But [there was confusion] in people, including myself, because you didn't know if it was safe in the building or outside.

I was planning to stay overnight at the office since it would take me close to four hours to walk home in my heels, and the building we were in was supposed to be strong.

But around 8 p.m., slowly some of the subways started running. Around 10 p.m., I decided to try out the subway to get closer to home. I couldn't reach all the way home, but fortunately, I was able to make it to my husband's parents' home where I met up with my husband, too.

My hands were shaking, panicking.

We [had] watched the live newscast at our office of where the earthquake hit in the Miyagi prefecture.

We watched ... the tidal wave swallowing up the village. But what you probably missed (and [what was] probably edited out by the time it was shown in Canada) was this tidal wave swallowing very quickly cars and people. Everyone at our office who was watching this live broadcast gasped, cried in horror. It was like a scene from the movies but deadly real.

I am still getting goose bumps all over my body.

But one thing I did right after the second big hit was quickly type on Facebook that I was fine.

Didn't know if I would be able to connect to my family back home in Markham, Ont. I thought at least if I wrote something on Facebook, someone could contact my parents.

I am physically, emotionally, mentally exhausted and want to go to sleep but am afraid of these aftershocks.

I pray for the people in the Miyagi prefecture.

More Citizen Bytes from Japan:

Related: Bob Iwami describes being stuck at Narita airport

Related: Ian MacDougall recalls his experience 

Related: Michael Seid was on holiday in Tokyo when when the quake happened