Anyway, I started jogging 3 days earlier that week that I was looking forward to 5pm so I can go out for a quick Jog. After checking my watch for the millionth time I decided to just take a grandma nap to calm my eager Friday night nerves.
My phone started vibrating an hour later, my best friend in Tokyo mailed. Before going back to my nap I checked the time and it was exactly 2:46pm. A second later the house started to shake, I brush it off as just another minor tremor. Few seconds later it got stronger and the sound became louder and louder. I jumped out of bed and run into the living room. The first thing I thought of was to duck under a table but then laugh at myself, thinking this is ridiculously embarrassing. Was jolted back into reality when it got even stronger, it shook violently. I decided to hell with being embarrassed, despite being the only one in the room, and take cover under the bar my boyfriend built. Too bad, I came face to face with our huge glass window that took up the entire living room. I scrambled from under the table and stood in the middle of the room not knowing what to do. I ran back into the bed room then out again. I did that for almost a minute before coaching myself into a less panicky mode. I keep telling myself to look outside and see what people are doing. Right in front of our apartment is a 7/11 convenience store. I saw the cashiers and customers standing outside, so I thought I should join them. That way I wouldn’t die a lonely death. On second thought, I was dressed in my house clothes, hair a total mess and wondered if I should go change. At that moment the wall mirror came crashing down.
Without any second thought about my bra-less state I ran out the door, colliding with the landlords employee. He was so kind to help me, like most Japanese they are aware that foreigners have no clue what and how strong quakes can be. So he let go of the Landlords office door which he tried to keep open. Another important survival quake fact I picked up that day: To try and keep your door open, to have an exit. Otherwise it will be jammed and you cannot escape. Most of the quake casualties are because they were trapped inside buildings and suffered from severe burns or smoke inhalation.
He took me to an open spot and stood with me and my neighbor. The shaking got louder and I was sure it’s the apocalypse. All I could think of was>this is it, it’s the end of human reign. It lasted for almost 5 minutes, to me it seemed like forever. The next thing I did was run back into the house to check the news. All I know is that, its epicenter matters, I check around and ended up in the inevitable site: FaceBook. Tried calling my boyfriend but all lines were down. Thank God for skype and FaceBook I was able to locate my boyfriend, have word sent to my parents and get confirmation that my friends were OK.
I knew that in the next hour the foreign media will put a whole new spin to this earthquake and my parents will be paralyzed with worry. And to a majority of people, Japan is Tokyo. When people think Japan all they could think of is Tokyo.
The aftershocks were terrifying, my Landlords employee was outside the whole time as if he was just waiting for me to run out again. I will always be grateful to this kind fellow who took care of his own fear and panic and help me to deal with mine. Deep down I feel like I once again tapped into the source of generosity, humility and bravery of one more Japanese.
The next 3 hours was nerve wracking, experiencing after shocks while praying my boyfriend makes it home safe. All train lines were forced to shut down immediately so he had to walk all the way from his office, which was almost 4 hours away on foot. I keep replaying all the possible scenes in my head, him being struck down by a falling object. Going through the news was painful enough, I can still see the scenes captured live on camera as if I was there. The tsunami, commuters stranded in Tokyo and the devastation that befallen this entire nation.
That night going to bed was tough,nightmares that were cut short by another aftershock only to be replaced with more horrible dreams.The night seem to go on forever, every after shock got me jumping out of bed and head towards the door till I was too exhausted to care anymore.
Hope you are safe.
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