Disaster Befalls a Nation!!

It has happened!!
It's a 7.9..... no it's ....... 8.4 ......... 8.9.......... finally (days later) ....... it's classified...... 9.0!!!! No amount of preparation saved Japan from the ultimate assault of this record high score! Never in recorded history had Japan experienced such a severe earthquake.

This shows the location of the earthquake.

We had joked about the prospect, talked about National disaster plans and, naively, even wondered what it would be like to experience some seismic activity. Living in this country, used to regular seismic activity, we had experienced many minor tremors. Perched on the 16th floor, in a building designed to move like a pendulum, we had become sensitive to any movements of the earth. Evacuation points are familiar landmarks in all areas, particularly as the Tokai earthquake is now 25 years overdue. Japan's history has been built around wars and earthquakes and museums are full of information. From an early age school children are taught how to respond in an earthquake and all families have emergency kits ready to grab. In reality, the ferocity of Friday's earthquake put everything into perspective. No amount of preparation could have overcome the speed with which this monster moved.

Having delayed my return from a trip in Australia by a couple of weeks, I had only returned to Japan early Wednesday morning. I, lightheartedly, made comments on Facebook about Japan shaking with excitement at my return as the next couple of days were punctuated by regular tremors.

Friday dawned cool, clear and sunny and, as usual, I began my day by going out on the balcony to say 'Good morning' to my friend, Fuji-san. He is still wearing a long, Winter coat of snow and since the quake there has been no smoke coming from his chimney!!

Keen to overcome a virus that had been plaguing me I decided to go for a run. Donning my running gear I headed off. Passing through the hills of Yamate to the south, I then headed north through Yamashita Park along the picturesque waterfront and past all the normal view points to Minato Mirai and Rinko Park. As I ran I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty and diversity of this area.

Heading inland I made my way to Yokohama, taking a shortcut through the typically crowded station. Yokohama Station sees at least 2 million people per day passing through.

Turning southwards I headed through the back streets of Yokohama, Sakuragicho and Kannai back to the apartment. I had been gone 2.5 hours and covered about 13 kilometres, no record breaking times for me, but alternating between jogging, sprinting and walking I felt invigorated.

I had developed quite an appetite so I quickly knocked up a snack and sat down for a rest.
At 2.26pm I made this silly post on Facebook......
'It sucks!! Just went for a 2.5 hour run and when I got back silly iPhone hadn't recorded distance because I hadn't registered the program. Lulu Lemon's didn't suck though!!

As I nibbled away on my lunch I checked my e-mails. It was 2.46pm. Suddenly without warning the apartment began to shake. Uh oh!! Here we go again I thought. Within seconds I realized this was serious, the shake was not abating......with the adrenalin pumping I quickly typed a comment on Facebook....my fingers couldn't hit the keys.......
' Having a seriousw earthquake, never felt anything lijke it. Can stand shit im scared'  (should have said 'can't stand' but the room and my hands were shaking too much)

The shaking intensified.... getting stronger and stronger ......... faster and faster. I waited for it to subside but subside it did not! It went for so long! The building shook violently and ferociously. So violent and intense was the movement.....I  still could not hit the correct keys.....too bad.....I hit post without even correcting.

At that moment my mobile phone rang......it was Steve. We maintained a phone connection for the next couple of minutes and then, satisfied we were both OK, Steve proceeded with evacuation procedures at work. At work, he grabbed his emergency bag and hard hat and ran out of the office with his work colleagues. Watching as the next quake began, Steve witnessed the awesome rocking of the buildings from outside. I was still in the apartment and held on as I went for another ride. Within minutes of the quakes the phone systems, mobiles and landlines, went down and Steve and I didn't have contact for a couple of hours. Throughout the disaster Facebook and Twitter remained strong, except for a rapid slowing down of the Internet speed.

Hiding under my desk during the initial earthquake and praying that the building would remain standing, my greatest fear was falling to the ground with the building. Each time we have an aftershock now, I have visions of riding a chunk of concrete to the pavement 16 floors below. I felt surprise and fear as the quake continued to shake with fury for not 1 minute, not 2 minutes but more!! This was no gentle rocking, the shaking was fast, aggressive and furious. As I hid under my desk I watched the  wall opposite me moving backwards and forwards about a metre. My initial thoughts, which sound a bit dramatic,  were..... 
'Please don't let me die in my 16th floor apartment, alone and in Japan away from my family.'

Suddenly the TV flew across the floor, I listened as the heavy double sliding doors between the lounge room and dining room slid shut and then repeatedly banged open and shut, drawers in the kitchen fell out, chopping boards, cutlery and bottles fell on the floor and were flung into the hallway. In the midst of this clatter, the fire door between the kitchen and living area slammed shut with a resounding bang. Decorative vases fell, curtains quivered as they swung backwards and forward, drawers in the dressing room slid open then fell over, pretty well anything loose fell.

In a word I was 'terrified'! But what could I do? Nothing but hold on and wait! The building creaked and groaned and the elevator pulleys clanged and banged. At its peak I could not walk and found myself crawling in and out of my hidey hole under the desk. It sounds a bit dramatic now, but at the time it was very real. Sometimes, certainly at this stage, two and a half minutes is a very long time!!

Like a predator shaking a victim in its jaws, the earthquake shook Japan. A whole nation became a seismic victim of this fierce foe.

The map below shows the recordings taken at the time of the earthquake and just after. Pretty amazing! Quite clearly the whole country was being ravaged!!

Even as I am writing this we have had another aftershock which registered 6.2 north of here. In excess of 350 aftershocks have been recorded.

Once the shake subsided the building continued to and swing and rock.  Eventually, as its pendulous motion lessened, the building 'regained its feet'!  Unbelievable!!

The hallway was littered with our fallen bikes and, at this stage, I called down to the main desk. Our Japanese concierges, Reyna and Naoko were equally scared and really had no advice to give. For them it was their first serious earthquake also. They invited me down but I felt happier staying where I was.

The lifts were still operational and, half an hour later, Reyna came up to see that I was 'daijoubu desu' (alright). Always considerate and in typical Japanese fashion, she even picked up the bikes in the hallway. At no stage did we lose power in the building and our elevator remained operational.
With a record force sufficient to move the position of this country 2.4 metres and move the earth 10cm on its axis, it goes without saying that the effects of this seismic attack were enormous. As one tectonic plate slid under another, the recipe for an enormous tsunami was complete. With the plates running parallel to the country, the newborn tsunami was able to vent its force unopposed. Unbeknown to those in the cities, who were assessing the damage and wandering around shell shocked, further away the worst was still to come.

North east of us, nearer to the epicentre, a monumental disaster was unfolding.  Within ten minutes a tsunami with such force, moving at such speed, wiped out entire cities and towns, turning houses into matchsticks and felling multi storey buildings in seconds. With each cubic metre of water weighing one ton, what chance did anything let alone a mere human have against this onslaught? In an instant, thousands of people died as water engulfed their homes and towns. Tsunami walls, common place throughout Japan, held tight but were unable to restrain the massive flood of water. Television footage has shown it all. Worldwide, everyone is familiar with the shocking reality of the tsunami and its ensuing side effects. Ships, boats, cars, trucks, buses, tanks, buildings, trees and people......this monster consumed whatever got in its way and swirled it around. What it left behind was reminiscent of a bomb site.

For the rest of the day, naturally, I was very nervous. I remained in the apartment, where I felt more secure, in an environment that I knew. At 3.10pm we had another very strong quake, not as bad as the first one but I was glad I hadn't picked anything up. Like before the building took a while to settle. The television, which had been flung off its perch at the height of the main quake, came to life as I lifted it up. From that moment, like so many, I remained glued to the screen as news from the disaster area was broadcast across the world. The enormity of this violent foe's assault was impossible to comprehend.

For those in Tokyo and Yokohama, a normal Friday had been transformed instantly. The railway system shut down immediately and, suddenly, millions of people were stranded. In the cities, which are reliant on public transport,  everyone was faced with the difficulty of getting home. Just after 4pm, Steve finally got through to me on the phone and said that he and some of the others from his office were on their way home. Unable to catch a train or taxi, like everyone else, he was compelled to walk home. Three hours later he arrived at the apartment, by this stage it was dark and cold. Amazingly, as he had left the office snow had been gently falling. Others work colleagues took 5 hours to return to their homes in Tokyo and some didn't even get home. Many people who work in Yokohama and Tokyo commute long distances each day, often catching more than one train to reach work. They were forced to spend the night in hotels or with friends. Throughout the rest of the day and evening the aftershocks came every 20 minutes. Very unnerving and unsettling. Finally, well after midnight we fell asleep but were often rocked out of our slumber throughout the night.

Saturday morning dawned sunny, clear but cold. We decided to ride around our local area on the bikes rather than sit around watching TV. We started off riding around the back streets of Kannai where cracked sidewalks, broken tiles and walls with jagged cracks were evident.  Cracked windows were taped up and the corners of many buildings showed signs of structural damage. We rode down Motomachi Street normally bustling with people on the weekend, but like a ghost town today.  Along the foreshore in Yamashita Park, families were out walking and pampered dogs were enjoying leashed walks.

We even witnessed a bride and groom having their photos taken.

Further along a juggler was entertaining the crowds.

It didn't feel right to be enjoying the beauty of the area while in the disaster area  the struggle to survive continued. But beauty and sunshine aside, something was different.......down the length of Motomachi Street shops were closed, the major stores in Minato Mirai were closed, the ferris wheel was still, Cosmos, the amusement park silent.  With an almost total reliance on public transport, the shutdown of the railway system had had a huge impact. No trains, meant the cities had virtually ground to a halt. The normally busy, crowded and frenetic streets of Yokohama were almost silent. Restaurants were closed and shelves in most convenience stores were soon stripped bare......no milk, no bread, no bottled water! The nation was in shock.....nervous.....waiting. It was very strange.

At about 12.00 before returning home we visited a friend in Minato Mirai. He had a dilemma! His wife, with two of his children, had planned a visit. They should have arrived on Friday but, with Narita Airport closed, all flights had been cancelled or postponed. After an overnight delay in Singapore they were due to land at 1pm. Normally travellers then catch a train or a Limousine Bus into Tokyo or Yokohama, or if you don't mind paying a taxi. On Saturday all buses had been cancelled, no trains were running and taxis at the airport would not take any one beyond Tokyo.

There was nothing to it....we opted to take the car and head off to Narita. Sounds easy .....normally is....but not today.  All the elevated major expressways were closed which meant we could not even use the bridge near our apartment to get across Yokohama Bay. So after turning around we headed for Kawasaki and onto a toll way. Initially, we made good progress but then suddenly the four lines of traffic ground to a halt.

Our route to Narita was also the same route going north to the disaster area. Progress was slow......it took 4 hours to cover 39 kilometres, which included 2 hours to do 2 kilometres. Phonecalls between us and the travellers let us know that we still needed to get to Narita. Finally after 4 hours, by which stage the car travellers were getting hungry and in need of a rest room, we received another call to say the travellers were going to be catching a series of trains, which had started running, to Tokyo! That was good news because we still had 113 kilometres to go to the airport..... We eventually got off the tollway and made our way to Ginza, just north of Tokyo. We had arranged to meet there because it would be easier for each party to find the other.

Even though the roadways were clogged Tokyo was very, very quiet and it was easy to drive through the streets. That was quite bizarre! We headed back to Yokohama and covered the same 39 kilometres in about 30 minutes. Thank goodness!
 
Had Japan only experienced an earthquake the damage would have been so much less....strict earthquake building codes had saved most buildings. But a tsunami of such monstrous proportions was overwhelming. The tragedy and horror created by the tsunami is beyond description. Surely that would have been enough... but no.... why not throw in a nuclear crisis to complete the trifecta. Nuclear power plant explosions. A nation in crisis!!

As I am finishing this post news has come through, nearly a week since the horrific earthquake, saying that radiation levels have spiked and are higher than any previous reading. When will this nightmare end....when will Japan be given time to mourn? The whole situation is so extreme!

The sadness, loss and tragedy that this nation is dealing with is beyond comprehension.  It took only minutes for the earthquake and tsunami to devastate Japan's northeast. Rebuilding will take years - if it can be afforded. The relentless wall of water unleashed by the quake killed countless thousands, swept away whole towns, inundated roads and knocked ports, oil refineries, steel plants and factories out of action. 

The world is now seeing what we have grown to love in the Japanese people......grace, dignity in the face of adversity, honesty, care, respect, no loss of law or decorum, no looting, no complaining or asking for some magical 'other person' to fix their problems!! The world has responded to this shocking catastrophe but stories are widespread of people, who have already lost everything in the tragedy, helping others in need.

From a personal aspect, we are living in very uncertain times....will we have another large earthquake? Will the nuclear situation worsen? The country has had over 400 aftershocks since the big one and we, in Yokohama, have had too many to count. When the building starts rocking you hold your breath and hope it is not another big one. Some have been very strong....we had a 6.2 just 54 miles west of us at about 10.40 pm the other night. It was very near to Fuji-san. This one started quite differently, with a deep pulling and shuddering sensation under the building before the normal shaking. It was a very shallow quake, only 1 km deep!! The next night we had another one at the about the same time. Makes it hard to settle at night!! Using an application on my iPhone I am able to get accurate feedback of quake data.

This has been a very difficult post to compose. At the time I was too scared to take any photos, so I must rely on photos I have taken of the TV coverage. My normal enthusiasm to record everything photographically has  been dampened. Never again will we look at a warning sign and glibly dismiss it!!!

So many children, babies, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, spouses taken by this shocking monster.

So much grief and loss!!! Daijoubu ja nai desu!!!