Category: Japan Living

(a snapshot from our TV)

April 14, 2016, Thursday evening, I was on our living room sitting on the floor playing  with my laptop on the low center table. I was all alone that night since my husband was at his part-time work. I was updating my iPhone, surfing the net and chatting with some friends and my family online (multi-tasking lol), when suddenly at 9:26, I got an alarm on my phone. I looked at the message on the screen but it was written in Japanese. I was wondering what it was. I thought it was some kind of an error because I just got my phone that afternoon, a new replacement phone for my broken phone and I was still updating it. Before I could ever comprehend the message on the screen, I heard my phone saying “Jishin desu.” repeatedly and jishin, as far as my  Japanese vocabulary can go, means an earthquake. Earthquake! I was like ‘What? Earthquake?’ What earthquake?’ What are you talking about? Is this new phone broken, too?’ But the events that followed stopped me from thinking what was going on and answered all the questions in my head. Just seconds after the alarm, the walls started shaking and that made me realize there was really an earthquake. Not a phone malfunction. The shaking got me panicking. I did not know what to do. At first, I thought that maybe it’s just an easy shake and it will stop right away, but, it didn’t. It kept going stronger. Scary thoughts were playing in my head. What if this is a strong one like the March 11th earthquake. What if the walls will break. What if the ceiling crushes down upon me. What if…what if..what if..I was scared. Then, I remembered our earthquake drill in school. We were told to “duck, cover and hold” during an earthquake. That instant, I covered my head, but with only my left hand since my right hand was holding the phone. That was crazy now that I think of it.  I looked around to find a place to cover me but there was nothing I could fit myself into. The table in front of me was too low, only my legs could fit in there. I was not able to think of the table in the kitchen. That would be perfect! I was stuck on where I was sitting just covering my head with one hand. That moment that you want to do something better but time is faster than you could ever think and move.

After less than a minute, the shaking stopped. Thanks goodness, I thought. I messaged my husband and tried to call him but I couldn’t connect. I thought again that the new phone is broken, lol. But, it’s just that the phone network got crammed, that’s why. I was able to talk to him after several attempts and learned that he will be late because the trains has stopped operating for a while. I turned on the TV for updates. I gave updates to my family and friends telling them what’s going on. And the funny thing about it, was, even during the shaking, with my right hand holding the phone, I was still able to chat with my Filipina friends and family telling them there is an earthquake. It is kind of hilarious that even in a calamity, I am still “connected”. I also messaged my co-teachers living in my neighborhood who just moved to Japan from their countries checking on them if everything was alright. That made the chatting loooong, since many of them are not used to experiencing earthquakes in their homeland.

During a calamity, it is really scary. You could think that it is the end of the world. But, when it is over and you see that the damage around you is not really that much or nothing at all, the situation becomes funny. I laughed thinking of myself during the earthquake sitting on the floor with one hand on my head and the other one holding the phone messaging. A friend whose Japanese language ability is more or less than a beginner said that he thought the alarm was just  a kind of cellphone virus and when it started shaking, he did not know what to do. Another friend said that she was just wearing an underwear and when it started shaking she grabbed her pajama and thought that she could never let herself die in an earthquake just wearing a panty. Lol! That really filled my stomach with air. One friend who was eating rice and bulad, a Filipino favorite dried fish,  with just her hands, as we call it nagkinamot, said she accidentally swallowed the whole bulad when the shaking started. Poor bulad, I mean, poor friend. Lol. Two other friends sent us their picture hiding under the kitchen table which seems that they’re scared and laughing at the same time. It is hilarious, but no, it is serious. Especially at the epicenter.

The center of the earthquake is in Kumamoto. It was a 6.5 magnitude earthquake with a maximum of 7 according to news reports. It was only 4 in our area. There were about 103-106 aftershocks. I couldn’t sleep well that night because the aftershocks kept coming. Nine people have been confirmed dead, some even said 10. Hundreds of people are treated for injuries and thousands have evacuated for safety. The news in the morning the next day (which is today) made me really sad. Many people were on the streets wrapped in blankets gathered in open spaces for fear of after effects. Parents held their kids. A woman was interviewed and she cried while retelling her experience. News reports showed damaged houses and roads specifically in Mashiki Town. Even the Kumamoto Castle, the most famous castle in Kyushu, is not spared. A part of its huge walls crumbled to the ground. Its topmost roof is broken, too. It is a sad scene. It is a sad news.

And today, Friday, the earthquake that occurred last night is the talk of the town. It’s all over the TV news reports, my Facebook timeline , and  News Agencies. Some say the “Big One” is coming. Scary. It reminds me that life is really unpredictable. We may live today, we may die tomorrow. Nobody knows. The world is ever-changing. Everything is. What is beautiful today may end up a wreck anytime beyond our comprehension.