earthquake

At 6:24pm today, a pretty nasty earthquake rattled Japan. I had just finished eating dinner and was checking out CDs at the Virgin Mega Store on the 9th floor of the Marui building in Kawasaki when the whole place started shifting back and forth. The CD racks were shaking, the signs hanging from the ceiling were swaying, and for about 45 seconds, it was as if the Earth stood completely still. Oddly enough, I couldn't help but smile throughout the whole affair. I've gotten pretty used to quakes, so they don't scare me anymore; the more violent they are, the more fascinated I get (and obviously, this one was big). It was pretty surreal to see everyone frozen in place, looking around as if to check if the ceiling was about to cave in or something.

After about a minute, it was all over, and within a few moments everyone went back to their business as if nothing had ever happened. Business as usual in Japan, I guess.

BTW, thanks to those of you who mailed me to make sure I'm still alive. :)

Posted by john tv at May 26, 2003 10:30 PM