The nine MU students studying in Japan this semester are safe in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami that hit the country Friday, MU spokesman Christian Basi said.

The International Center is staying in touch with MU students in Japan to support them and ensure there are no medical emergencies, Basi said.

A note on the International Center’s website, posted Monday, stated the center had chosen not to remove any students from the country, despite concerns over nuclear reactor meltdowns in parts of Japan.

“This decision is based on two primary factors: the fact that official sources are not recommending evacuation from the locations where MU students are studying; and the distance of the programs where MU students are studying from the affected locations,” the International Center’s website stated Monday.

The center has also made efforts to help the 17 students from Japan studying at MU contact their families and receive news from home.

Junior Jimmy Gannon is volunteering on an organic farm in Ibaraki prefecture in Japan. He is near the coast, but said his area was not affected as badly as areas to the north.

“We haven’t had electricity or phones for days, but thankfully we got water from the mountain and the food is home grown,” he said in an e-mail. “As far as I know there are still rolling blackouts, meaning that they are moving the electricity from town to town, so I don’t know if we will have access to communications here for long.”

Gannon said Monday he was en route to Tokyo, following concerns about the nuclear power plant in the prefecture north of where he was staying.

“All should go well as long as these designated transport routes are able to stay open,” he said.

Junior Travis Worsowicz, who is studying at Waseda University in Tokyo, said the city was not impacted as much as other areas of the country.

“I haven’t seen a lot of destruction,” he said.

At the university, there are holes in the stairs and some rails have fallen off, Worsowicz said.

“Some of the buildings have giant cracks in the wall,” he said.

When the first earthquake hit, Worsowicz said he wasn’t fazed until his suitcases fell off his dresser and drawers opened. Meanwhile, trees and buildings were shaking outside.

Since he had never experienced an earthquake before, he wasn’t sure what was the safest thing to do, he said.

“I got under my doorway for a little bit,” he said.

As soon as he could, Worsowicz e-mailed Study Abroad staff members Kip Kendrick and John Wilkerson to update them on his situation. His inbox was filled with messages from MU.

“I got a lot of e-mails from different entities asking if I’m OK,” he said.

In Japan, cell phone networks were flooded and many people couldn’t get service, he said.

“There were lines of 20 to 30 people to use pay phones,” Worsowicz said.

Japanese lecturer Chieko Kellar lived in Tokyo for more than 30 years. Her mother, her brother and his family still live there.

Her brother e-mailed her about the earthquake at about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Columbia time. When she read the message on her iPhone, she immediately got up to read the news.

“I just got online and started checking all kinds of media,” she said.

Because transportation in Tokyo shut down after the earthquake, many of Kellar’s friends in Tokyo had trouble getting home. One friend walked 10 hours to her residence, enlisting the help of one of thousands of strangers walking in the city.

Kellar used Facebook to contact her students who are in Japan this semester. She said she was particularly worried about a girl who is working near the coast in northern Japan. Kellar sent her a Facebook message asking if she was OK.

“Almost nine hours later, she replied,” Kellar said.

The International Center has policies, procedures and insurance in place to make sure it is prepared for disasters. The center will keep its focus on the safety of the students in Japan.

“We will continue to monitor that situation closely,” Basi said.