Earthquakes used to happen at a rate of about one a month, on average in Japan. I remember that my sister was visiting when we had a pretty big one in the middle of the night. She was sleeping on the floor when the apartment began to shake and she sat bolt upright. "Oh my god, what's that?!?"
me: "Uh, it's an earthquake."
her: "Oh my god what do we do?"
me: "Just wait."
Earthquake continues.
her: "What do we do?"
me: "Just hang on."
Eventually, after about 30 seconds, the earthquake stops.
me: "There, it's over."
her: "What do we DO!?!?!?"
me: "Go back to sleep."
It was really funny. Although once there was a big one when I was in my death-trap of a classroom with a full glass wall six stories above the street. All the glass began to rattle and shake and I was seriouly afraid it was going to shatter, but it didn't. The thing that really sucks about earthquakes in Japan is that they shut down all the trains where they stand (I think the fear is that aftershocks could cause the train to derail if it's moving - sometimes aftershocks can even be more powerful than the original earthquake). One of my coworkers was stuck standing in a jam-packed Tokyo rush-hour commuter train for over two hours, waiting for it to be powered back up.
Earthquakes used to happen at a rate of about one a month, on average in Japan. I remember that my sister was visiting when we had a pretty big one in the middle of the night. She was sleeping on the floor when the apartment began to shake and she sat bolt upright. "Oh my god, what's that?!?"
me: "Uh, it's an earthquake."
her: "Oh my god what do we do?"
me: "Just wait."
Earthquake continues.
her: "What do we do?"
me: "Just hang on."
Eventually, after about 30 seconds, the earthquake stops.
me: "There, it's over."
her: "What do we DO!?!?!?"
me: "Go back to sleep."
It was really funny. Although once there was a big one when I was in my death-trap of a classroom with a full glass wall six stories above the street. All the glass began to rattle and shake and I was seriouly afraid it was going to shatter, but it didn't. The thing that really sucks about earthquakes in Japan is that they shut down all the trains where they stand (I think the fear is that aftershocks could cause the train to derail if it's moving - sometimes aftershocks can even be more powerful than the original earthquake). One of my coworkers was stuck standing in a jam-packed Tokyo rush-hour commuter train for over two hours, waiting for it to be powered back up.
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