DENVER -- A Denver woman who has spent the last year teaching at an international preschool in Japan got caught near an earthquake zone Thursday, for the second time in a month.
It was a couple weeks ago when 9NEWS first talked to Devon Bartlett, who had come home for a couple weeks after the first quake hit on March 11. She returned to Japan last week.
9NEWS talked to Bartlett's mom in Denver Thursday. Although Nancy Bartlett has not heard from her daughter yet, she anticipates her daughter was fast asleep when the 7.4 magnitude quake hit on Thursday.
The latest earthquake was centered nearly 200 miles from Tokyo. As a comparison, that is about the distance from Denver to Trinidad.
"The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is go see if there's an email from her," said Nancy Bartlett.
The email Nancy Bartlett found in her inbox Thursday morning read: "I have felt four aftershocks since being back. One sort of big one, and the other relatively small," wrote Devon Bartlett.
That e-mail was sent before Thursday's quake hit.
"I think it was about an hour later, I think it was my neighbor who said, "did you see there was a 7.4 earthquake in Japan?'" Nancy Bartlett said.
While her first instinct was to pick up the phone, Nancy Bartlett had to settle for her computer. She went straight to a website their family's been using to track daily aftershocks.
"I mean, that's a big one. Any place else you'd have a 7.4, that'd be a big one," Nancy Bartlett said.
She says she hopes for her daughter's sake, and for the people of Japan, that this last quake does not slow what has been a push forward.
"The mood right now is everyone's trying to get back to normal. Get back to work, get back to school, but everyone's really cautious," Nancy Bartlett said.
When 9NEWS first talked to Devon Bartlett weeks ago, she said it was fear of aftershocks that forced her home. For now, all her mom can do is hope this one will be the last.
"I anticipate waking up in the morning and have her say, 'this one was fine, we felt it, but it was fine,'" said Nancy Bartlett.
Only half the kids have returned to the international preschool where Devon Bartlett teaches. School is now being held in a new earthquake-secure building, and many parents have requested their kids only play inside.
Nancy Bartlett plans to go visit her daughter in August. She says she thinks it's important as Americans we continue to help Japan's tourism industry.
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