Apple and How They Helped Locally in the Earthquake

This most recent series of disasters in Japan has all of us reeling, wondering what will happen next. First the country of Japan is rocked by a Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake. The Earthquake was so massive that it literally moved the coastline of Japan some 8 feet! Some of the out laying islands have been moved as much as 60 feet! All of this resulted in the Earth tilting 4 more inches on her axis. As if the Earthquake was not enough, a tsunami nearly 30 feet tall, washed over several coastal towns of Japan, utterly devastating them.


So what does this have to do with Apple? Well according to Digg Founder Kevin Rose, an Apple Store Manager in Tokyo said, "With the phone and train lines down, taxis stopped, and millions of people stuck in the Tokyo shopping district scared, with no access to television, hundreds of people were swarming into Apple stores." He then said "Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones. Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world,"

Apple employees and Management were invited to stay in the stores during the disaster. With no way of getting home, and no hotels available, many would have found themselves sleeping on the streets. But since Apple owns and controls the buildings their stores are in, they were able to secure them and allow their employees to use them for temporary housing.

To me, this is a sign of a company who truly cares about their employees and their customers. In a crisis like Japan is facing right now, they have come together to help the public get news and to supply their staff with temporary shelter.