私：地震でひどいことになりましたね。食べ物や水は大丈夫ですか。
叔母：さしあたり、水も食べ物もあるから、心配しないでね。それより、家が傾いてしまって、余震が心配なの。
Sashi-atari
(Kobe no oba ni denwa shite)
Watashi: Jishin de hidoi koto ni narimashita ne. Tabemono ya mizu wa daijoobu desu ka.
Oba: Sashi-atari mizu mo tabemono mo aru kara, shinpai shinaide ne. Sore yori, ie ga katamuite shimatte, yoshin ga shinpai na no.
(On the phone to my aunt in Kobe)
Me: Things are in a terrible state after the earthquake, aren't they? Are you all right for food and water?
Aunt: At the moment we have both food and water, so don't worry. What's really worrying is that the house is leaning at an angle, so we're worried about aftershocks.
Sashi-atari means for the moment or for the time being.
We've been reminded recently what a scary thing earthquakes are, and I would like to offer my sincere sympathy and condolences to all the many people who died or were hurt in the Kobe earthquake.
There is an old Chinese expression we sometimes use in Japanese: Ishoku tarite rei setsu wo shiru (Well fed, well bred), which came to mind when I was thinking about the people suffering the effects of the disaster.
I learned that some of the people whose houses collapsed or burned down spent three days out in the cold. One of them said, Sashi-atari taberu mono to ieba, kazoku yo-nin ni bisuketto, hito-hako deshita (At the time, the only thing we had to eat was one packet of biscuits between our family of four).
But even people with only that small amount to eat were better off than those with nothing at all. The majority of people said, Mizu mo taberu-mono mo naku, sashi-atari hitsuyoo na mono dake demo, hayaku todokete hoshii (We don't have any water or food. For the time being, please just send at least the bare essentials). One person, who had spent three days sleeping in a park, said, Nete ite odoroite soto ni tobi-dashita node, pajama shika kite imasen. Sashi-atari samusa ga shinogeru yoo ni, hayaku purehabu no ie de mo tatete kudasai (I woke up with a start and dashed outside, so I'm wearing only my pajamas. Please put up some prefab housing to help up survive in this cold). He had no blankets and no heating to keep him warm.
Some of the foreign students I teach remarked on what a safe country Japan is, because in the midst of the earthquake aftermath they were impressed to see that there had been no looting.
I wonder how long it will be before Kobe is restored to its former beauty-and how long before people can relax again. I hope the rescue work gets done swiftly.