I thought I'd do a post about what we were doing when the 'big' one hit. Ours was a M 5 upper (I've heard some say 6, others 5.7), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
If you double-click, we are inside the bay, about 2 knuckles in, if that tiny protrusion there were a finger. So, we are somewhat protected, as there are mountains between us and the Pacific Ocean. The entrance to Tokyo Bay is relatively small, therefore we'd have to have an earthquake directly south of it to do the damage seen on TV recently.
We are close enough to the water, that a hurricane, like Katrina, would flood us. We are in more danger of that happening.
This is my version, for the three of us, so Tim and William may end up editing it. There. That's my disclaimer.
TIM was at work. He was in a trailer on the ship. He said these trailers (stacked 2 high) sometimes shake a bit when a bigger 'Yardbird' tromps through in their steel-toed boots. But this one kept going and going. The boss came out and said, "What are you guys doing out here?" like they were doing something to make it happen.
It shook enough to unsettle the brow, or the gangplank for the ship, so they had to be re-set. No getting away from those jig-dancing Yardbirds! :)
He was able to get through to us (finally) on the phone after the big aftershock hit. We were fine.
Later, the water dropped about 6 feet, unsettling the brow again. He called us again, and said, "If this is like Thailand, you need to get to higher ground." We were on a higher road, going home, but after seeing a village devastated that was 2 miles (3 kilometers) inland, I'm now realizing that that road wasn't nearly high enough.
He had to work late, and I did start to get a bit concerned, but I knew that if people couldn't get in to work, that he'd have to stay.
WILLIAM had gotten a prize for winning the spelling bee in the classroom he'd gone to. It was a second-grade classroom, as his teacher knew he is more advanced than first grade. The prize was a ticket to go watch the movie, 'Akeela and the Bee.' I had to go pick him up from school (kindergarten and first grade have to have an adult or of age child pick them up) to take him to the multi-purpose room for this event.
The head lady told me I could leave and come back later, but I saw she had bags of popcorn that needed divvied out, and drinks to serve, so I stayed and made myself useful.
When everything was done, I decided that this would be a good time to go shopping, and headed for the commissary.
When the 'big one' hit, William said that the doors in the school automatically opened. The kids are trained to dive under something sturdy, so they got under their chairs, and after it stopped shaking, they headed to the exit, and downstairs to the outside.
He ended up in a group that wasn't with the main lady, and a neighbor saw that he was upset, so she walked with her kids and him from the blacktop, play area, towards the grass.
CAROLINE-- I was a couple hundred yards away, cutting across the parking lot to the commissary when I saw this lady with a weird look on her face say to me, "Can you feel THAT?" I stopped and realized that her car she was standing by was rocking badly, and the ground was rolling. I cried out, "God help my child!" and I spun around and headed for the school.
As I passed the bottom part of the playground, I saw 4 kids squatting under a bench. Kinda funny... what did they think, the sky was going to fall? But, they'd been trained... and the ground was still rolling. Past the gym, past the multi-purpose room (above the cafeteria). I could see the last bit of kids being led away. I saw the main lady, but I didn't see William.
I have a certain call to get William's attention, and I started yelling for him. I finally saw him, and he was crying. I gave him a big hug, kept kissing the top of his head, and told him it was going to be alright.
Then I said, "Wasn't that COOL? You've lived through a big earthquake!" and we high-fived.
We grouped up with his group. Our neighbor's child, Thor, came over and gave William a hug.
Then we were told to go to higher ground, in front of the school. A lady with a bull horn told us nobody could go back inside until the school was inspected, and that parents couldn't take their kids until all children were accounted for. As soon as the counting was done, the main lady told me to take William.
We headed to KumOn. William does math at the community center, a four-story building. We were about to go in, and get on the elevators, and I thought that he might be a bit shocky, and sugar can help. So, went back to a vending machine to choose a drink, and I was getting out coins, and the aftershock hit. It was big enough to get your attention, that's for sure!
We got away from the building. We could see the blinds swinging in the windows. William said, "I don't want to go in there! (to the third floor)" and I said, "Okay, but we need to go to the commissary!"
So, we waited for the building to be inspected, then sprinted through trying to get all our grocery shopping done, as we were having a St. Pat's party the next day, and I needed to buy green grapes and green celery --two items that are American centric-- and a few other things. Then, we headed home.
The line to get off base was formidable. We ended up exiting main gate, then sat in traffic. People going the opposite way weren't moving. People we know said they parked their car and walked to base. I tried to take a picture of the gnarled traffic, but my camera isn't working too well, and well, I was distracted...
Tim called to warn us about a tsunami. The light of the evening was apocalypse-ish. The sun was golden, and setting in the west (behind us), and there was a looming black cloud overhead (from the refinery across the bay from us, they had a fire). The light was trapped inside, but not bouncing, like off of white clouds. So you got a very unique one-way light. Photogs will appreciate this.
We got to our house in 1 hour (it usually takes 20). The electricity was out for the last little bit, so the traffic lights weren't working.
When we got out of the car, I heard the announcement to evacuate. They play it in both Japanese and English in our town. The neighbors were all talking, so I went over there, and asked if here was okay to stay. Our neighbor behind us (we share a driveway) used English (for the first time since being here) to explain that the tsunami was supposed to hit us 10 minutes ago, and it was only supposed to be 2 meters.
I knew the roads were problematic, our house has a second story, so I got our emergency kits (two day-packs) and put the water in the one from our water stash, and William and I went upstairs. We have flashlights by our beds for emergencies, and I went down and got more batteries.
We huddled in, knowing that night would befall us. We had sandwiches for dinner. When the natural light was gone, I missed our house back home, where we had an emergency light that was kept plugged in, and gave off good light during power outages. Then I thought, 'hey, the solar lights in our garden would work inside!' So, I went and got them. William and I used real flashlights to read our books.
What was really un-nerving was the many after-shocks. Anything from a 1 to a 4. Lots of 2s. Each time your heart jolts and you wonder if it's going to be another big one. By the next morning, I went online and counted them, and came up with 70. William said he was counting, and there had been 73.
We usually only have a quake every couple of months. To have so many in so short of time is rattling to the nerves.
The power came on at 1:34, and has stayed on since. The next morning, we finally got to watch some of the footage.
We are scheduled for black-outs. If the power needs don't exceed the generated power, no power goes out. So, we're keeping lights off, and doing what we can to conserve. I'm not stopping doing laundry, though!
This is my version, for the three of us, so Tim and William may end up editing it. There. That's my disclaimer.
TIM was at work. He was in a trailer on the ship. He said these trailers (stacked 2 high) sometimes shake a bit when a bigger 'Yardbird' tromps through in their steel-toed boots. But this one kept going and going. The boss came out and said, "What are you guys doing out here?" like they were doing something to make it happen.
It shook enough to unsettle the brow, or the gangplank for the ship, so they had to be re-set. No getting away from those jig-dancing Yardbirds! :)
He was able to get through to us (finally) on the phone after the big aftershock hit. We were fine.
Later, the water dropped about 6 feet, unsettling the brow again. He called us again, and said, "If this is like Thailand, you need to get to higher ground." We were on a higher road, going home, but after seeing a village devastated that was 2 miles (3 kilometers) inland, I'm now realizing that that road wasn't nearly high enough.
He had to work late, and I did start to get a bit concerned, but I knew that if people couldn't get in to work, that he'd have to stay.
WILLIAM had gotten a prize for winning the spelling bee in the classroom he'd gone to. It was a second-grade classroom, as his teacher knew he is more advanced than first grade. The prize was a ticket to go watch the movie, 'Akeela and the Bee.' I had to go pick him up from school (kindergarten and first grade have to have an adult or of age child pick them up) to take him to the multi-purpose room for this event.
The head lady told me I could leave and come back later, but I saw she had bags of popcorn that needed divvied out, and drinks to serve, so I stayed and made myself useful.
When everything was done, I decided that this would be a good time to go shopping, and headed for the commissary.
When the 'big one' hit, William said that the doors in the school automatically opened. The kids are trained to dive under something sturdy, so they got under their chairs, and after it stopped shaking, they headed to the exit, and downstairs to the outside.
He ended up in a group that wasn't with the main lady, and a neighbor saw that he was upset, so she walked with her kids and him from the blacktop, play area, towards the grass.
CAROLINE-- I was a couple hundred yards away, cutting across the parking lot to the commissary when I saw this lady with a weird look on her face say to me, "Can you feel THAT?" I stopped and realized that her car she was standing by was rocking badly, and the ground was rolling. I cried out, "God help my child!" and I spun around and headed for the school.
As I passed the bottom part of the playground, I saw 4 kids squatting under a bench. Kinda funny... what did they think, the sky was going to fall? But, they'd been trained... and the ground was still rolling. Past the gym, past the multi-purpose room (above the cafeteria). I could see the last bit of kids being led away. I saw the main lady, but I didn't see William.
I have a certain call to get William's attention, and I started yelling for him. I finally saw him, and he was crying. I gave him a big hug, kept kissing the top of his head, and told him it was going to be alright.
Then I said, "Wasn't that COOL? You've lived through a big earthquake!" and we high-fived.
We grouped up with his group. Our neighbor's child, Thor, came over and gave William a hug.
Then we were told to go to higher ground, in front of the school. A lady with a bull horn told us nobody could go back inside until the school was inspected, and that parents couldn't take their kids until all children were accounted for. As soon as the counting was done, the main lady told me to take William.
We headed to KumOn. William does math at the community center, a four-story building. We were about to go in, and get on the elevators, and I thought that he might be a bit shocky, and sugar can help. So, went back to a vending machine to choose a drink, and I was getting out coins, and the aftershock hit. It was big enough to get your attention, that's for sure!
We got away from the building. We could see the blinds swinging in the windows. William said, "I don't want to go in there! (to the third floor)" and I said, "Okay, but we need to go to the commissary!"
So, we waited for the building to be inspected, then sprinted through trying to get all our grocery shopping done, as we were having a St. Pat's party the next day, and I needed to buy green grapes and green celery --two items that are American centric-- and a few other things. Then, we headed home.
The line to get off base was formidable. We ended up exiting main gate, then sat in traffic. People going the opposite way weren't moving. People we know said they parked their car and walked to base. I tried to take a picture of the gnarled traffic, but my camera isn't working too well, and well, I was distracted...
Tim called to warn us about a tsunami. The light of the evening was apocalypse-ish. The sun was golden, and setting in the west (behind us), and there was a looming black cloud overhead (from the refinery across the bay from us, they had a fire). The light was trapped inside, but not bouncing, like off of white clouds. So you got a very unique one-way light. Photogs will appreciate this.
We got to our house in 1 hour (it usually takes 20). The electricity was out for the last little bit, so the traffic lights weren't working.
When we got out of the car, I heard the announcement to evacuate. They play it in both Japanese and English in our town. The neighbors were all talking, so I went over there, and asked if here was okay to stay. Our neighbor behind us (we share a driveway) used English (for the first time since being here) to explain that the tsunami was supposed to hit us 10 minutes ago, and it was only supposed to be 2 meters.
I knew the roads were problematic, our house has a second story, so I got our emergency kits (two day-packs) and put the water in the one from our water stash, and William and I went upstairs. We have flashlights by our beds for emergencies, and I went down and got more batteries.
We huddled in, knowing that night would befall us. We had sandwiches for dinner. When the natural light was gone, I missed our house back home, where we had an emergency light that was kept plugged in, and gave off good light during power outages. Then I thought, 'hey, the solar lights in our garden would work inside!' So, I went and got them. William and I used real flashlights to read our books.
What was really un-nerving was the many after-shocks. Anything from a 1 to a 4. Lots of 2s. Each time your heart jolts and you wonder if it's going to be another big one. By the next morning, I went online and counted them, and came up with 70. William said he was counting, and there had been 73.
We usually only have a quake every couple of months. To have so many in so short of time is rattling to the nerves.
The power came on at 1:34, and has stayed on since. The next morning, we finally got to watch some of the footage.
We are scheduled for black-outs. If the power needs don't exceed the generated power, no power goes out. So, we're keeping lights off, and doing what we can to conserve. I'm not stopping doing laundry, though!
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