Libertyville native rides out quake in Tokyo pool

A Libertyville native who was coaching swimmers at an aquatic center Friday afternoon near Tokyo suddenly found himself in what seemed like a water park.

Mat Luebbers told his sister Dawn Neal of Lake Forest that when the powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, it turned the massive swimming pool into a wave pool for the 100 swimmers inside of it.

“He told me everyone was OK,” Neal said. “The team was just practicing when it struck. Everyone got out OK, and there was no damage.”

Luebbers, in an e-mail Saturday to the Daily Herald, said the initial quake was so violent it splashed water out of the massive pool, leaving it 3 to 4 inches shallower.

“Everyone got out of the building, and there was no damage, so we tried to restart the practice a few times, but the aftershocks made that a no-go,” he wrote.

Neal didn't even know her brother was in Tokyo when the quake struck, she said. Luebbers is a swim instructor and coach at Semper Fitness Aquatics on the Marine base in Okinawa. He generally works with Marines and their families stationed there, Neal said.

Communication has been fleeting since the quake. The swimmers were staying on a military base near Tokyo and are still there until they can find a way back to Okinawa.

Luebbers wrote that he expects most of the team from Okinawa will head back on a military plane that is expected to arrive Sunday to drop off relief supplies.

Luebbers told his sister that Okinawa also had a 2-foot tsunami surge from the quake, but it caused little damage. Okinawa is located southwest of the epicenter of Friday's quake.

Neal said she became concerned once again about her brother's well-being after she started hearing reports about the damage at some nuclear plants around Tokyo, but her brother reassured her he was not in danger.

“When the explosion occurred at the power plant further north, the meet was officially canceled and the focus turned to speeding up the process of getting everyone back home to Okinawa,” Luebbers wrote.

Neal said the ongoing saga with the nuclear facilities is still worrisome.

“That worried me when I heard they were having trouble, but I guess they're pretty far away,” she said.

Luebbers told his family that the area where he is staying 35 miles southwest of Tokyo appeared to be in fairly good shape and that “everything around me looks fine.”