Social media helps CT connect to Japan

New Marlborough, MA (WTNH) - Social media is coming to the rescue in the disaster in Japan.

Facebook updates have calmed the fears of a woman who grew up in Norfolk, Connecticut concerned about her brother.

He lives near the epicenter of the 8.9 magnitude quake in Sendai, Japan. She didn't know how he fared until she saw him posting on Facebook.

"I initially went right to Facebook, because I knew if he could get to us, that was the way he was going to do it," Lisa Sullivan said.

Sullivan awoke early this morning to the news of the deadly earthquake in Japan, and wanted to get in touch with her brother, Tim Phelan right away. She went to his Facebook page and saw he was updating. She still hasn't actually spoken to him, but at least she knows he's safe. Because he lives in a higher elevation area, he was not hurt.

"All day we've been keeping a close eye, and I'm looking forward to the sun coming up, and having them be able to leave the house, but he's without electricity at this point, and dealing with a lot of tremors," Sullivan said.

Phelan moved to Japan thirty years ago after falling in love with the culture. Sullivan now lives in New Marlborough, Massachusetts, but called News 8 initially to see if we could help her get in touch with her brother.

Sullivan has also learned from her brother on Facebook that snow is falling on Sendai during this disaster, so it is very cold. She says she doubts she will hear from him over the phone so she'll have to stay glued to her TV and keep checking Facebook updates, and occasional tweets and texts.