Earthquake!
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I was sitting on a park bench today, watching the Japanese frolic in the tall grass and listening to the rock bands compete. Suddenly the park bench began to shake. Then it really began to shake. I actually looked around, wondering if someone was shaking the gorram thing, and then I spotted a bunch of birds take flight from a nearby tree.
It was an earthquake, and a strong one. With the park bench now going all Linda Blair and a nearby lamp post looking like it might tear loose and fall (it's top was thrashing back and forth too fast to see) I leapt to my feet, yelling "Holy shit!"
The Japanese kept playing with their aerobees and dogs, and I stared around in surprise. Until the emergency vehicles started zipping back and forth five minutes later, I was beginning to wonder if I'd been the only one to notice!
It is truly bizarre to feel soil shift around under your feet. Literally moving back and forth under your feet.
I've read conflicting reports on its strength, but they seem to settle around 5.7 - 6.0. Impressive.
Earlier in the day, while shopping for an 2nd anniversary gift for my girl, I had encountered another bizarre and unnerving Tokyo experience. It was a 'perfect storm' of that odd kind of marketing that they do here where a young person yells at the passing croud through a small cone.
I don't know if this is primarily limited to the neighbourhood I was in, but when I wandered into a multi-story mall comprised of many small boutiques with names like "As known as", they were having a 70% off sale and there were countless screaming hawkers. Some of them had small megaphones and drums. The din was indescribable, but when I found myself moved to join along by letting out a full blast sustained "whoooooohoooo" only a couple of heads turned in my direction - no one else could possibly have heard.