First Earthquake!

I have been wondering for some time when we were going to experience our first earthquake in Japan. The first (and really only) earthquake I ever felt was in Hokkaido on my first trip to Japan. At that time I was told that earthquakes happen so often no one really even notices. It seemed odd, then, that we've been here almost two years with not a single shake.

I asked some Kobe-ites about this and they said that Kobe isn't an especially active part of Japan. Of course, anyone who was living here in the 80's knows first hand that Kobe is capable of tremendous earthquakes, but apparently this part of Japan is not especially quake-prone.

The earthquake tonight was very quick and not very strong. The news (which started reporting within one minute of the event) said we were between a magnitude 2 and 3 quake. It was enough to give everything a rattle, but not enough to tip anything over or shake anything off the table. It was over before Russell and I could even react.

Like well-trained Oregonians, we went and stood in a doorway for a few minutes. But we gave up within a couple minutes. Russell turned on the news and I started writing this post.

I don't ever care to be in a serious earthquake, but as long as they're small like this one, I don't mind.