The Day Japan Shook

(Picture above: People in Tokyo lined up for the bus after Earthquake)

Sometimes when we travel, we experience natural disasters. That happened to me with the big 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. On this 3rd year anniversary, my memories are still clear. Most of the devastation to Japan was caused by the Tsunami, but the earthquake itself was extremely intense. It was the largest recorded earthquake ever in Japan and the 7th largest recorded earthquake in world history. The Richter Scale is funny. You math majors might get it, but it doesn't make much sense to me. According to Wikipedia, a 9.0 Earthquake releases 1000 times the energy of a 7.0 earthquake. Numbers aside though, it was a scary and massive earthquake. It felt totally different then the earthquakes I experienced growing up.

I was near Asakusa station in a Tokyo Starbucks waiting to meet my son a little later in the day. We were going to visit Nikko for the weekend, before my trip back home. I was on the ground floor. After I felt the quake starting, I exited the building and waited in the middle of the street with others. I knew that wasn't what I was taught as a kid, but I honestly felt at the time, the building was going to come down. Being from California, we are told to stay put, get under a desk or doorway during a quake and of course stay away from glass windows. I did the equivalent of duck and cover drills growing up. In Japan though, it seems like everybody wants to be outside during a quake. It probably was not the right thing to do,but that's what I did and what everybody else I saw did. The quake lasted for what seemed a enormous amount of time. I was praying for it to stop. People were screaming. The buildings were swaying and the ground was moving in a rolling motion.You could actually see the ground move like a wave. At that point, I thought a lot of buildings were going to come down. The sounds of cracking and the eerie wind was surreal. After the quake was done, I looked for a payphone to call my son and I luckily ran into him on the street. Unbelievable, in a city of millions, I met him in a spot he didn't know I was at.

Asakusa Train Station closed after Quake

After we ran into each other, we went to Asakusa station to inquire about our train. While we were asking information, a big aftershock hit. They directed people out of the station and we waited in the street again. They closed Asakusa station after that and I had to be escorted in to get my luggage from the day lockers. Funny how they still honored that I had a luggage ticket. Goes to show what following the rules mean in

Japan, even during a disaster.

The electricity remained on but cell phones weren't working and people were lining up at payphones. Metros and trains were not running. We decided to go back to my sons place on the outskirts of Tokyo. We took a bus from Asakusa to Ikebukuro There was so much traffic that the bus didn't get too far. We exited and walked the rest of our way to Ikebukuro. So many people were stranded away from home The metro stations and train stations were crowded with people sleeping on the floor. There was garbage all over the floor too, a strange sight to see in Japan. We spent most of the night at 24 hour cafes. Part of the night we rode what metro lines they got going. The Metro line to my son's place didn't open until 5 am and then we went to his place.

I felt bad for many elderly people that I saw stranded on a pretty chilly night. Later I heard there were places for people to go, but that information was not reaching the majority of the people. What amazed me was how resilient the huge city was and how most people got home on their own.

For the days after, the aftershocks seemed constant. What was so nice is

all the people who checked on us from home and in our travel community. I appreciated it and even customs and airlines people showed real concern.

The recovery of Japan is far from complete but it's quite an accomplishment what they have achieved in a few short years with their tourism industry.

I think the big lesson to countries is that earthquake building codes probably saved many thousands of lives and places that have earthquakes, need to have them