Saturday 8 December 2012

7.3 Earthquake and John's 15 Minutes of Fame

There was an earthquake yesterday, a 7.3 that was in almost exactly the same place as the much larger one in March last year. I was at home at the time, and I will admit to clinging onto the nearest door, but it was never that strong, it just went on for a long time.

John wasn't quite as lucky as me, he was at school in Tagajo, near the coast, and following a tsunami warning he had to evacuate to a local elementary school. He was never actually in any danger at all, it was a case of better being safe than sorry.

I was at home, hoping he was OK, and I saw a BBC news article about it which was trying to stir up panic. After all, if a 7.3 earthquake ever hit England all hell would break loose. I commented on the article, and within a minute I had an email asking for my phone number. I had nothing to tell them, but I sent them John's phone number, and a little while later he was being interviewed live on the BBC!!

So, here's the link to John's 15 minutes of fame...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20639184

Following that, all the trains, except the one from our house to Sendai, were cancelled. I got the train in, and started walking to meet John. It was a pretty long way (about 13km), but I met up with him halfway and we got some dinner before finishing our walk.

Not the day either of us expected, but it was all very exciting!

6 comments:

  1. John, you're my hero! Very calm, very patient, very nice response. "They just get on with it." That was accompanied by images of people (in a newspaper office?) basically holding on to shaking screens with one hand and typing with the other. :)

    Yesterday I went hiking near Hakone. The quake hit just as I arrived back home, otherwise I'd probably still be camping out in a cedar forest!

    PS: What is it with Fridays and earthquakes?

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    1. I was impressed at him too, if it had been me there would have been a lot more "ummmm, eerrrr, well" type noises!! I don't think Britain can cope with the idea there are places that a 7.3 earthquake doesn't mean death and destruction to all!

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  2. Susie, you are my hero!:-)
    Got the train to meet John:-)

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    1. Thanks! I quite enjoy walking, so it wasn't too bad, plus we stopped for tasty curry on the way home!

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  3. Glad you guys were fine!

    Also, a shame we didn't get the chance to meet but best of luck to you guys! Thank you for your informative posts.

    It definitely helped with my decision in joining with Peppy!

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    1. Thanks, and you're welcome! Good luck with the rest of your time in Japan :)

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