7.2 Earthquake

Many people maybe wondering about this aspect about living in Japan and this mornings earthquake provides a good lead in. I guess I will start with the most anti-climatic part; the Japanese treat this as very much routine. It doesn't even raise to the level of water cooler chat. The only places I heard about it were when the news stations were issuing tsunami warnings and when I brought it up with my colleagues and students. With +1400 earthquakes a year, the Japanese have really mastered the art of changing these types of events into the background noise of life. They say with a sigh, simply, "Again...." Now the difference here is by no means the Japanese, its me and my Albertan-ness. At 6:39 AM, 1/3 of the Japanese population woke up. Hokkaido, Sendai, Iwate, Fukishima. This morning at 6:39 AM, if you were not already awake, you suddenly were, and if you were awake, you were then fully awake. I found this morning's events intriguing; tickling the full extent of my curiosity. These sorts of things just don't happen in Alberta!

The earthquake happened just a bit south of Hokkaido, but far out in the ocean, about 350 km East, at a depth of 23 km. If you've lived in Japan for any legate of time you may agree with my thinking that earthquakes can have different characters. Some rumble slowly to life, others are just a single, violent push - a small readjustment of the Earth's crust. Today's was big enough for most people's thoughts to perhaps turn to the topic of maybe getting out of bed and finding shelter in a door frame or under a table. In the end that would not have been necessary, and it seems that because worst didn't become reality the Japanese psyche is much quicker to move on - than silly old me. I felt like I need a stiff drink. I had been lying in bed listening to the radio, but when the house just shook and shook, dishes rattling, doors shaking. And the shaking just seemed to go on and on, It seemed longer than a minute, but in reality where we were it was probably no longer than 40 seconds. I was fully awake so fast I could have been mistaken for a crazed over-caffeinated Starbucks customer. This can't be good for the heart. I'm starting to understand why the people in Skikaoi just ingore it.

There's also the mystery of why most earthquakes happen in the morning. This is a popular topic among foreigners who, antidotally at least, see a correlation. But the mathematics of an earthquake, which is a well-studied phenomenon in Japan, always concludes that these are about the most random events ever - impossible to predict. Just to end on a cheery note, I have also learned recently that Hokkaido is home to the most active volcanos in Japan. These sorts of things are endless source of speculation for my imagination. But to the residents of Shikaoi, its a plus - more excellent hot springs!