Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Earthquake

Yesterday morning I woke up yelling "Earthquake!" And I was right. We were bouncing around on the futons to a 6.5 magnitude quake, the epicenter a little off our coast. It was around 5:00 am.

Here's a record of some of the damage around the house. My lead crystal vase, the one I filled with rocks (yeah, rocks) fell off the bar. Didn't break though. Still picking up them pointy, nearly invisible rocks though.


Luckily I'm a light sleeper and woke up with the initial shaking. I was sitting when the serious shaking began and my tower of books hit my pillow. Who knows, I might have been knocked unconscious by a Salman Rushdie tome. But then again if I'm gonna go...


Okay, I know, it doesn't look that bad.

The next picture is going to break your heart though. It's one of the bigger casualties that morning.


I give you Cha. J says he was jumping around the room like a frog and when J tried to grab him to calm him down he just, well, continued to jump around. After a much needed bowel emptying we put him in the living room with us where he immediately decided to hide in the safest place in the house -- the cats' litter box. Dogs instinctively know the safest place in the house.

Don't worry no beagles were unnecessarily harmed or mentally anguished in the making of this blog post. After I took the picture I picked him up, dusted him off, and cuddled him for awhile. That is until the thunder started and he really freaked out. Back to the cat box. (We also had a typhoon coming right at us yesterday. Fortunately, it found its mercy and veered off.)

The next picture is a little confusing. When I went to take a photo of J's room I felt compelled to announce in a loud voice, "Did we just have an earthquake or a tornado?" Much of that is what I call Pre-Earthquake Damage.


Around the city tiles fell, cement fences tumbled and grave stones shifted, but one of the biggest tragedies would probably be this. The Sapporo Beer Factory down the road lost more than 5,000 bottles of beer (and tea). (Edit to add: I learned later...just tea. Wew!)


But, truth be told, I'm depressed. The news has been saying this has nothing to do with the ginormous Tokai Earthquake that is due to hit here any day now. You know, the one that has hit on schedule every 100 years since the beginning of time. That one, they say, will be 180-200 times worse than this morning (an 8 on a scale that only goes to 7). Oh, and I was in a daze as they flashed fancy graphics of firestorms on the TV, but I could have sworn they said something about 10 million people dying in the thing.

Which leaves me wondering if I need to buy a bigger cat box...


14 comments:

Virginia Lee said...

I told you this on Facebook, but please give Cha smooches from me and Miss M. How did the kitties fair?

We're glad you're okay, hon. Dangblasted Ring of Fire. I tell you, when I took Physical Geography the plate tectonics bits freaked my head. I've only felt a less than 4.0 when we were in Mississippi. I thought it was construction trucks going by our little house.

*hugs*

Kappa no He said...

Virginia, cats were thoroughly upset. Whiskey disappeared all day (under Julyan's bed, I'm betting). But they allowed us to give them hugs and pets and are doing much better today. Not really impressed with the aftershocks either.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I'm glad you are all ok, but that
tokai earthquake is really scary. What are you guys going to do?

Kappa no He said...

My husband said last night, "We need more bottled water." Somehow I don't think that's comprehensive or realistic plan. I'm still brainstorming ideas.

Benjamin Solah said...

Look after yourself! 180-200 times that sounds pretty bad!

Kappa no He said...

My son was all worried until he heard that then he said, We ain't got a chance, there's no use even trying.

Gabriel Novo said...

Living in Costa Rica for 3 years I know what it's like to be on an active Volcano chain. They can be fun, but frightening if you're asleep or stuck in an enclosed space.

Now a typhoon right after that is just nature's way of giving you a hint ;)

Kappa no He said...

Gabriel , I agree it's a hint. And all these aftershocks, more hints. Luckily the typhoon was a dude as far as we were concerned. I'm so ready to move to the safest place on earth.

Mary Witzl said...

Your kid's room is my kid's room! Who needs earthquakes when you have teenagers?

Just reading this post has made my mouth dry up. I used to think about The Big One every single time I got on the subway (Chiyoda line). It was bad enough that you couldn't move a millimeter, but the thought of what would happen if the tunnel we were speeding through collapsed was the stuff of nightmares. When my husband and I were living in Chiba, in 1988, there was a big one that knocked bottles and glasses off shelves and sent furniture tumbling around the room.

And my kid is in Tokyo right now. Wish I could send her a giant steel litter box...

Pat said...

Yowza! The look on Cha's face says it all. But really - where on earth is safe? Maybe New Mexico or Arizona? Just stay out of the canyons when it rains...

Seriously, you must keep yourselves safe. And take comfort in the fact that you have relatively cheap health (and dental) care in Japan. :)

Jim Melvin said...

Changing the subject dramatically ...

Seeing your futon reminded me that my wife and I slept on a futon for years. But we finally had to give it up because it was killing our backs if we slept more than six hours. We switched to a Tempur-Pedic, and now sleeping is paradise and no more back problems. Does the futon bother your back?

Kappa no He said...

Mary, that's right! Your little one is in Tokyo. Good news is once the big one hits the Tokai area she can be the first one to Narita to take a plane home.

Pat, but isn't it so hot in Arizona that people just burst into flames? I heard that somewhere. I think you're right...no where's safe!

Oh, Jim, futons. I use these extra mats to make the futon more sleepable. Oddly enough, when I go back to the States I have problems with my old bed, too soft.

My big problem is pillows, they have NO decent pillows in my town. I actually splurged on a Tempur-Pedic pillow (it was quite expensive), but ended up giving it to Julyan. I totally understand a Tempur-Pedic bed being a good thing, but I think a pillow needs to be squishy soft. I've already told my family when I sell my next book I'm buying a new bed. I need to see if they have those Tem-Ped beds here or not. *fingers crossed*

Anonymous said...

When I lived there I got a great bed from a place in Fujieda. Queen-sized (!) but instead of a box spring, there were tatami mats. Very nice. I could sleep on the tatami or use the pretty good mattress.
imomomo

Hilary said...

Geesh Terrie.. I'm glad you're all safe. That's just too scary. Poor, POOR Cha.. he looks absolutely terrified. And I know that Benny would be the same. I've seen him react to fireworks. Give that pup an extra cuddle from me. Keep safe.. sending best throughts - always.