Friday March 11th, 2011. I sit in my chair happily reading webcomics, contemplating what to do with the day, already half spent. It's around 1:30pm JST when I get a chat message on Facebook. One of my best friends from the states, David, wants to Skype. Eager to see a friend I haven't spoken with in the past 6 months, we begin our Skype conversation. We speak on various topics, from women to martial arts, even touching upon earthquakes -- comparing our past experiences. Both of us had only felt quakes with minimum effect. This would become ironic by the days passing.
At 2:46pm JST -- 9:45pm PST -- still skyping with David, I feel an odd sensation and glance over at my Chinese lantern haning from a tack on the wall. It was shaking.
"Oh, I think we're having an earthquake..." I stated, very relaxed.
"You may want to get under a door frame," David replied, showing quite a bit more concern than I.
"Nah, It'll..." I was interrupted mid-sentence by the strength of the quake. The room was now shaking with such a force that it made it difficult to stand. I quickly ran to the door frame as David got an eye-witness account through Skype.
Holding on to the door frame, I glance down the hallway to see my dorm-mate, Aaron, holding his door frame as well.
"This is mental!" he yelled from down the corridor. It certainly was. The ground was thundering, creating a horrible sound as my room was being shaken like a toy. David watched helplessly. The quake had been going on for about 15 seconds at this point -- what seemed like an eternity. Rob wandered down the stairs, I beckoned him to come into my room. He did so, grabbing the other side of the door. We were shouting at this point. I look down the hall, Aaron was still there; then, the emergency fire doors close. These doors are massive steel doors that are closed via magnets on the wall. Once they closed, I could no longer see Aaron, that didn't sit well with him as I heard his displeasure from behind the door.
The earth continued to shake, as if he were a child throwing a tantrum. About 60 seconds into the quake, it tapered down. Adrenaline was flowing freely.
"I have never been that scared," I thought aloud.
I ran off to see Mount Fuji, maybe she finally had enough. She sat there, observing Tokyo from her distance. Silent. I returned to my room a few moments later.
David was still on Skype, not sure what to say. I laughed it off, but honestly I was terrified. I was shaking. I slumped into my chair.
"Next time, Ed. Just leave, man..." David's advice was sound. People were up and about, everyone in the dorm was quite unnerved, even the seasoned Japanese were not sure how to handle that.
Then, the earth wasn't done. It started, again. This time not nearly as bad.
"I'm going, man." I told David via Skype. I closed the chat and ran out of my room to greet some dorm-mates downstairs.
"Just an aftershock?" I thought out loud. Tak, a Japanese fellow downstairs from me, hinted that it probably was. They didn't stop. I'd return to my room only to feel more. I didn't know how to handle them. My heart raced every time I felt them. We had between 4 and 5 big aftershocks with in the first 2 hours. A few of us gathered in Aaron's room to determine the strength of the quake. We got varying numbers, but they were all above 7.5.
Outside on the Laundry balcony, a few of us gathered to look at the street below. Everything seemed to be in order. Tak then joined us and said, "I've never experienced anything like that."
"The fact you said that, doesn't comfort me, Tak" I replied. Quite simply, it made me even more terrified. I walked back up to my room and went to research how big this massive quake was.
At first, the news outlets were saying 7.9 then saw a few numbers suggesting 8.8. "Either way, that's huge," I thought.
The aftershocks continued, gradually getting less and less traumatic. At this point, my body was getting used to it -- a thought scary in-and-of itself.
Was it 8.8 or 7.9? Fucking hell... I'm still shaking and so is the earth...
-My Facebook status, 3:45pm 3/11/2011
The quake struck at 2:46pm 81 miles off the coast of Sendai in Northern Honshu, 231 miles from Tokyo. The next focus was the Tsunami. A massive Tsunami was soon to hit Miyagi prefecture and the north-eastern coast of Japan. From there the wave was heading to Hawai'i, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the western coast of the United States. Watch as the Tsunami hits Sendai...
The aftershocks didn't stop for us, they're technically going on still. All the while, a massive tsunami headed Southeast across the open sea at 500 miles per hour. In Tokyo, the trains were shutdown. No one was going anywhere, I was certainly glad to be in the dorm. A few friends of mine were out at Mount Takao, enjoying a hike. They realized what was happening when the got back to the station realizing they couldn't get back to Koganei. They walked home, all 36 kilometers of it. They got back around 1am. Others were stuck in Yokohama or downtown Tokyo. The one good thing, however, was that we were all accounted for. The Koganei lads survived the earthquake.
Now the issue moves from the earthquake itself and tsunamis to the Nuclear Power Plant. The plant, Fukushima, is threatening people within a 12 mile radius with it's deadly radiation. I am hundred of kilometers away and am in no immediate threat to the plant; however, if the winds change, then that could change. Also, to make things worse, they're predicting another large earthquake to strike along the "Ring of Fire" within the next three days. Hopefully, it will not come to pass...
As of today, the trains are back up in Tokyo, there is now a shortage of bread and food -- shortage as in the convenience stores and grocery stores nearby are sold out. The threat of a Nuclear power plant and an impending earthquake looms. Regardless,we lads will stay vigilant. We are safe.
Thank you all for the out pour of thoughts of well-being -- they truly brought warmth to my heart. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. I will keep everyone updated via Facebook, Tumblr, and this blog. Stay tuned!
