The Japanese Plight

I read the Earthquake Graduation Trip. It held some very interesting first hand accounts on the earthquake that hit Japan. It showed the kind of courage Japanese students had throughout the earthquake. I know that if something like this of this magnitude happened in NYC, there would be chaos. I still can't believe that although Japan for centuries perfected their buildings/roads and then a earthquake destorys everything. I once saw a video of the first 5 minutes of the earthquake and I saw that the road had no potholes or bumps. Unlike the ones in Ny, as a I said a earthquake would leave New York in ruins. (Quakestories- http://quakestories.wikispaces.com/American+School+in+Japan)