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I didn't feel it. I hear that there was 2 last night. I certainly felt the one on Saturday lunch time (EnderZero didn't, he was stumbling around still drunk trying to remember how he got home).

 

Is there a good English quake monitoring web site?

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Not sure about English info, but NHK usuals reports the magnitude and epicenter of the earthquake within a few minutes with a text message at the top of the screen. Even if you can't understand Japanese, you should be able to make out the magnitude number (I thought last night was a 3).

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Ha! \:D

 

While I might have missed the Saturday shaking I definitely felt the one last night whilst db was getting his beauty sleep. It was kinda loud too, but short. Then the second one was even shorter. First quake I have felt in Japan, although they seem to be quite frequent.

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i live about 70 k`s nth. of tha big T, and i was awoken from my slumber. apparently, up this way it measured about a 3. it`s a worry. only a matter of time i rekon, but then i`m no expert. wakaranai.gif

 

just a thought...

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I thought it was a nuclear attack. As a Briton, one (I) expect that a huge rumbling noise that gets progressively closer is the shock wave of a nuclear blast. Before I was fully awake, I heard the noise, hugged my wife goodbye, and watched the books streaming off my bookshelf in the morning light. After several moments of hugging my wife goodbye, we got out of bed and grinned at each other, clutching the walls as the floor bucked up and down. The building was swaying and making horrible cracking noises. We wondered when it was going to collapse. When it stopped enough to walk properly, we put the TV on and heard the first of thousands of reports on the earthquake. We soon realized how lucky we were not to be in Kobe.

 

Several of my acquaintances in the area simply left Japan - they couldn't stand the thought of going through the same thing again. A German friend of mine from Ashiya was a refugee for weeks after his house was destroyed - I couldn't get in contact with him at all. He had aged 10 years the next time I saw him.

 

We suffered no damage, but we could see smoke rising from the center of Osaka. There were a number of other shocks during the day. An awful lot of clocks fell of walls and pointed poignantly to quarter to six or whatever time it was. For me, it was an enjoyable experience - I survived and it was the damnedest thing to live through. But it was really horrible for a lot of other people, and it wrecked their lives.

 

If and when the Big One hits Tokyo, it's going to be horrible beyond words. Having watched Japanese firemen try to deal with one burning house, God knows how badly they'll manage millions, plus a good few petrol stations and gas storage tanks...

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There are a lot of factors involved.

 

You don't know which building you'll be in when it hits.

 

There are a lot of unknowns about the mechanics of earthquakes.

 

You might be standing next to the unsecured oak bookshelf in the building that is designed to sway but not break in the earthquake.

 

Building codes are not necessarily observed in practice.

 

Your earthquake-proof building may be located in the middle of tinderwood old buildings that may generate a firestorm of sufficient heat to melt your building.

 

Most buildings built these days are earthquake-proof, but most buildings weren't build these days.

 

Don't let it bother you. You have to die of something...

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I got to the airport on the 15th of Jan that year I think after travelling for about 2 days and had some jingles in my pocket so called my Mum. She was like "are you ok" really worried and I had no idea there had been a quake. Turns out we had left Kobe 24 hrs before the quake. Freaky.

 

But I wouldnt be too worried. Im sure youve got a much higher chance of dying in a aeroplane crash or getting run over by a car. Just put your bed in the safest part of your appt and enjoy the ride when it comes! Personally I think Japan has much less earthquakes that we had in NZ.

 

Just another aside to make you feel REALLY good, aparently downtown Wellington will be covered in 6ft of glass when the big one hits. I wonder what the skyscraper land of tokyo will be like! eek.gif

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6 foot o glass? That would make life interesting!

 

I remeber when i lived in HK we had a really strong typhoon hit us and the wind was just amazing. Our apartment was on the 17th floor and the whole building was swaying back and forth because of the wind. Apparently it was designed to do this, but it was very unnerving when you are so high up in a building.

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