DeKALB | The 25 individuals who were on the NIU Alumni Association‘s trip to Japan are now back home after arriving at O’Hare International Airport early Wednesday morning.

Joseph Matty, executive director of the Alumni Association, said it was his decision to cut the trip short after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country on March 11.

Matty said he consulted with the executive committee on the Board of Trustees and several administrators of the university before deciding to cancel the original itinerary.

The group, consisting of NIU alumni, family members and a tour guide, were at baggage claim at Tokyo International Airport when the earthquake hit.

Matty said the group stayed at a hotel in Tokyo until arrangements were made to fly back to the U.S.

While in Japan the group was restricted to downtown Tokyo, Matty said. He said he didn’t feel it would be safe to allow the group to go farther south as was originally planned.

Matty said they are in talks with the insurance provider, airline, hotels and tourist organization about a refund for those that went.

The trip was originally supposed to last until Sunday. Matty said a refund should be settled in three to four weeks.

Matty said he talked with the staff member that went on the trip as well as numerous family members and travelers.

“I’m just glad we brought them home,” he said. “The decision to cut the trip short was the right one.”

The tsunami following the earthquake destabilized Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Reactor Units 5 and 6 at the power plant were brought under control after days of pumping water into their fuel storage pools cooled temperatures to acceptable levels.

Progress also was reported in reconnecting those units and two others to the electrical grid.

An unexpected rise in pressure inside the plant’s leaking Unit 3 reactor forced operators to consider relieving pressure by releasing radioactive steam.

The same dangerous tactic produced explosions in the early days of the crisis.

The plan was suspended later Sunday after the plant’s operator said the reactor had stabilized. The option is still possible if pressure rises anew.

The government said the entire Fukushima Dai-ichi complex would be scrapped once the emergency is resolved.

As of Sunday afternoon, the death toll is at 8,450 people, while 12,931 are reported missing.

The death toll has been steadily rising as searchers find bodies from the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami.

At the same time, the number of missing has risen as survivors and relatives come to terms with the twin disasters and contact police regarding loved ones who remain unaccounted for.

An 80-year-old woman and her teenage grandson were rescued in northeastern Japan when the youth was able to pull himself out of their flattened two-story house nine days after the earthquake and tsunami. Both are conscious but weak, having survived on the food they had in their refrigerator.

Nearly 240 U.S. military family members fled Japan in voluntary repatriation arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They’re the first of what is expected to be thousands of military personnel and their families leaving mainly over concerns about radiation.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.