Earthquake
It started with a faint rumbling. I could feel the floor vibrating under my feet. Around the office, people stopped work; there were exclamations, and then everything really started shaking. Within a few moments, I was sitting under my desk and listening to the sound of cabinets and everything else in the office being shaken by the earthquake.
This was my first earthquake in Japan. I knew Japan had earthquakes, so I was a bit surprised when my supervisor told me I should let my mom know I was okay. Wasn't this a normal earthquake?
In the hours since then, and one powerful aftershock later, I have come to understand that this was much more than a standard earthquake. In fact, this was the largest recorded earthquake in the history of Japan.
After emerging from under my desk, I slowly started to realize that this earthquake was not the norm. And this is where technology comes in. Within minutes of the earthquake appearing on world news, I received two messages from family friends in the US making sure I was all right. Within half an hour, I had sent a message to family, friends, and relatives letting them know that I was okay.
As the afternoon continued, it became clear that a number of my co-workers and I weren't going to be able to get home since all trains had stopped running. After eating dinner at the office, and checking to make sure it was okay, I took a walk down to Shibuya Station, the train station that I use every day. While Shibuya is usually crowded, tonight was a different kind of crowded. For one thing, the bus lines were incredible. They were so long, I had a hard time figuring out the actual purpose of the line. For another, convenience stores were filled with business workers buying dinners and stocking up for the night.
After wandering around taking pictures, I headed back to the office. There was an impromptu pizza party . .
And within about an hour of that, I received an inundation of replies to my message from friends in the US who were just waking up. Later in the evening, I touched base with my mom (and thankfully she saw my message BEFORE she heard about the earthquake!), and spent a good hour talking with her via Skype.
And since then . . . well . . . it's 1:17 and everyone is still going strong. Might as well, we can't head home! Forgive me if this post is a bit disjointed and remember that it was written after 1:00 AM!
This was my first earthquake in Japan. I knew Japan had earthquakes, so I was a bit surprised when my supervisor told me I should let my mom know I was okay. Wasn't this a normal earthquake?
In the hours since then, and one powerful aftershock later, I have come to understand that this was much more than a standard earthquake. In fact, this was the largest recorded earthquake in the history of Japan.
After emerging from under my desk, I slowly started to realize that this earthquake was not the norm. And this is where technology comes in. Within minutes of the earthquake appearing on world news, I received two messages from family friends in the US making sure I was all right. Within half an hour, I had sent a message to family, friends, and relatives letting them know that I was okay.
As the afternoon continued, it became clear that a number of my co-workers and I weren't going to be able to get home since all trains had stopped running. After eating dinner at the office, and checking to make sure it was okay, I took a walk down to Shibuya Station, the train station that I use every day. While Shibuya is usually crowded, tonight was a different kind of crowded. For one thing, the bus lines were incredible. They were so long, I had a hard time figuring out the actual purpose of the line. For another, convenience stores were filled with business workers buying dinners and stocking up for the night.
After wandering around taking pictures, I headed back to the office. There was an impromptu pizza party . .
And within about an hour of that, I received an inundation of replies to my message from friends in the US who were just waking up. Later in the evening, I touched base with my mom (and thankfully she saw my message BEFORE she heard about the earthquake!), and spent a good hour talking with her via Skype.
And since then . . . well . . . it's 1:17 and everyone is still going strong. Might as well, we can't head home! Forgive me if this post is a bit disjointed and remember that it was written after 1:00 AM!
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