When DU professor Toshiya Ueta left the United States for Japan on March 11 he had no idea that the country had been traumatized by possibly its worst natural disaster in history.

When his plane touched down in Hanada airport at 5 a.m. the next day, Ueta was shocked to see a mass crown of people in the airport sleeping on blankets.

“That was my first image getting of the plane, that is when I noticed the significance of what had just happened,” said Ueta. “Earthquakes are so common in Japan, so when I got on the plan I didn’t know the size of the earthquake, and I wasn’t to worried about what was happening.”

Ueta, an astronomy and physics professor at the University of Denver, was delayed in Los Angeles before getting cleared to go to Tokyo, where he was traveling for a reunion.

Although stuck in Hanada for several hours, Ueta said part of the train system began working later that day and freed him of being immovable in the heavily crowded of shocked citizens.

Ueta arrived at the event that he had flown across the Pacific to attend only to discover it had been canceled the night before.

“I met with a few guys and talked, but I had no idea that it had been cancelled,” said Ueta. “People were just trying to get home at that point, and Tokyo was feeling the after shocks, but nothing compared to the first.”

Ueta didn’t leave the country until March 15.

He stayed with his parents and watched the TV coverage of the fatal tsunami that struck on the northeast coastline, devastating the country only hours after he had arrived. Ueta said he didn’t know anyone that was hurt by the events, but had colleagues who had been affected.

In response to the events, Ueta has been performing in several schoolwide activities, including an informational panel discussion last Monday that he spearheaded with three other professors to discuss the geologic, economic and nuclear safety impact on Japan from the earthquake and tsunami.

His immediate reaction upon returning was to help join a table situated on Driscoll Bridge.

The table’s goal was to raise money for the relief. Ueta, along with more than a dozen students, helped raise $1,355 during the first week of school.

“It was such a shocking event, so when I returned I knew I wanted to do something immediately,” said Ueta. “I got in touch with a few people and decided it was the right thing to help out. My main concern is helping the Japanese, then the general overview of the event, which is unlike anything one can imagine.”