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Living Out Of A Suitcase
The Big One? Probably not…
Well, quite a jolt yesterday morning, to the tune of 7.2M on the Richter Scale, or 6 out of 7 on the Japanese ‘Shindo‘ scale. All in all we had 18 earthquakes yesterday that were at least 4.5M, six people have died, and 11 people are still missing.
BBC News Video (no sound)
Yahoo News Article
Personally, I was sitting at my dining room table when it started. After the shaking began to intensify I thought it would be best to get Kyoko out of the shower! We stood under a doorway as the fun really began, starting with some side to side, followed by the up and down shaking. That’s when I started to get worried. Side to side shaking is a characteristic of oceanic earthquakes, while up and down represent continental earthquakes. The land-based ones are the most dangerous, causing the most structural damage to buildings. It lasted for a solid minute, but I swear it felt like it was at least 65 seconds long :P
There wasn’t much damage to our apartment, other than some smashed glasses and some other things that fell over. Our gas sensor was beeping though, which was a concern. Cell phones weren’t working as they were probably overloaded with calls, so we used our neighbour’s landline to call the gas company. He came by and reset the alarm, no problems. Various earthquakes during the day made for lively discussion as everyone would stop and look around nervously until the shaking stopped.
We actually went hiking in the area where the epicenter was just last week, so that was kind of a sobering thought with all the landslides that happened in and around that area…
My beloved apple glasses, destroyed.
A Freudian slip, or something more sinister?
In a bit of black comedy, one of the victims died when, while fleeing a building, ran out onto the street and was smacked by a truck. The truck received minor damages, and the building was fine.
A friend of mine told me that this area has been expecting a large earthquake to hit, but apparently this one wasn’t it. All being said I’ll take this one, thanks!
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Jun 15, 2008 - 10:55 am
Good post brotha. Sorry about the glasses. We got hit up here in Akita as well, but not nearly as strong. This earthquake was on par with the China earthquake, but because of the low population count didn’t cause as much tragedy. 10,000,000 people were affected in China. I’m glad it didn’t hit a place like Sendai because it would be rubble right now (sorry to say that). I know if an earthquake like that hit Akita City, Eiko and I would calling you from the local school gymnasium.
Anyway, glad to read and see that only some glasses got the short end of the stick at your place.
Be safe.
Peace
Jun 15, 2008 - 12:21 pm
Crazy stuff man! Not something I would want to experience. I would probably wet myself :p
Great description though of the difference between a land and an ocean earthquake. Either way, I say no thanks.
It’s an easier story to tell when the world doesn’t literally crash around your head. Much easier to reminisce when you survive!
Jun 15, 2008 - 12:22 pm
Oops commented with my wife’s google account – it’s me DRB who made the comment above =)
Jun 17, 2008 - 9:47 am
Ueno: Glad to hear that everything was okay in Akita, at least we didn’t get caught in the earthquake on the toilet like a friend of ours in Morioka, eh?
Beth/Aaron: What you do in your own time is yours, but no cross dressing on my blog! Unless you have photos… Just kidding, do you get any earthquakes in Arizona?