Earthquake

It happened during the children's naps.  I wasn't sure what to do and because it latest so long I had plenty of time to think about it.  Our apartment doesn't have any pictures on the wall or any mirrors that could fall on us what I was worried about was the two floors on top of us and the possibility of the building coming down.  This was by far the biggest earthquake I have ever been in.  "'The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was magnitude 8.9, the biggest to hit Japan since record-keeping began in the late 1800s and one of the biggest ever recorded in the world." For more news and facts on the earthquake go here. 

We are living just below Tokyo so we could feel it pretty strong.  Bob who was out on the carrier at the time could even feel the earthquake.  I had time to get up off the couch, look out the window for a few seconds and see the telephone poles swaying along with the building I was standing in.  Just as I was deciding weather or not to get the kids up Tucker came stumbling out of his room asking what is going on.  I told him that it was an earthquake and that he should sit down and give me a hug (the quake was still going) but he told me that he is fine and he is a ninja.  The kids were unfazed.  I was scared because I didn't know what to do.  Once the major shaking stopped I emailed bob who also emailed me and said he was fine.  the phones were down so I couldn't talk to anyone.  After a couple minutes of calm I put the kids back in bed and researched on the internet what to do for the earthquake.  I guess one of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to get out of the building and that you should get under a table and stay away from walls on the outside of the building. 

I think it was about 30 minutes after the first earthquake that we had a huge aftershock.  This i heard happened closer to Tokyo and was a 6.something.  So to me it felt just as big.  all of the sliding doors in the apartment were opening and closing and the kids were once again up.  This time we crouched under the table and held on.  Tucker and Penelope were climbing over each other and thought it was fun.  We continued to get aftershocks for about 2 hours.  And are so thankful that there was no damage to our apartment building. 

The carrier bob was on moved so people couldn't get off the ramp that was no longer connected and leave work.  He was stuck on for about an hour longer than usual.  The tsunami was also scary but we were unaffected by it.   The area where hundreds were found dead was on a more northern coast of Japan.  My brother who is serving a mission in Japan right now is farther south than I am so I was sure he was fine.

One of the biggest problems that occurred after the earthquake was because the trains and buses stopped.  Bob rode is bike to work so it wasn't a big deal but so many people rely on the public transportation to get home people were stuck at work.  The sidewalks and streets outside of our house were packed full of people walking home from work.  The taxis were hard to come by and I felt really bad for those who had an hour commute home. I looked out the window just before we went to bed at 10 and there were still tons of people walking home on the streets. 

I am so thankful that our family has been kept safe during this huge disaster.  Many people were killed and it could have easily been us if we were just a few hours north of here.  This whole thing has made me think about the second coming and how ready we all are.  I wished during the earthquake and possible evacuation order that I had some kind of 72 hour kit with me or some kind of plan as to what to do and where to go.  Something you might want to think about.