rattled

[xparrot]

I grew up in New England. I'm used to huddling inside during smothering blizzards and beautiful, dangerous ice storms that bring down powerlines for days, and weathering the occasional mild hurricane.

What I'm not used to is the ground under my feet deciding it doesn't want to be there anymore. One of the hardest things for me to get used to about life in Japan is the earthquakes. I haven't even been through any major ones, just a few tremors. This morning was one of the longest, and it was maybe 30 seconds (probably less), and it registered as a negligible 1 on the Japanese scale--didn't so much as knock down the manga precariously stacked on the top of the bookshelf next to my futon. (...I'm aware I live in quake country. I never claimed to be intelligent about it.)

Still, there's something about jerking out of half-sleep at ten of 7 AM with the floor rumbling under you like a monster truck rally is parading by--except our concrete apartment building doesn't quiver with any traffic--and when it's over the fusuma sliding doors are rattling in their frames for a minute afterward, just so you're assured that you didn't imagine it. It's the helplessness that gets me--a blizzard you can hide inside and stock up wood for the stove; a flood you can find higher ground; even a tornado you can flee to the basement. An earthquake is everywhere, all you see, anywhere you go; there's nowhere to go, nothing to do but wait. Lie on your futon staring up at the ceiling and hope it stops before it gets worse. And like all the most frightening disasters, if it's going to wreak havoc, it'll be over almost before you realize it's happening, too sudden and swift to do a damn thing about.

Yeah, I'm just not going to get used to that.

Comments

[busaikko]

Hee! Yeah, that was good fun this morning. I was on the second floor, and it shook rattled and rolled, but the family downstairs didn't even notice until I ran in and told them to put on NHK.

But it's a lot better to get the occasional little quakes than the big ones.... I was here for the Hanshin quake, and walked into Kobe a few days after. Extremely scary!

* makes you up a cup of cocoa. with marshmallows*

(P.S. we really, really need to get together. I totally let y'all down last year: apologies!)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're on the 4th floor, which is probably why we felt it at all.

The Kobe quake is terrifying. I know people in Kyoto have told me about getting all their dishes broken, and then when you actually see that cracked pier...*brrrr*

(yes, we totally need to get together! And don't apologize, that's at least as much on our side - scheduling stuff is really, really not our strong suit ^^; And we're heading back Stateside end of May, so yes, definitely must work something out before that!)

[busaikko]

End of May! Yikes! Real soon!...

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're from near here? I didn't know that!

RE: Quakes - aren't you supposed to go stand in a doorway or something? Not something we learn here!

The only quake I've ever been in was in Indonesia, summer of 2002. We were at a little seaside resort in a small A-frame cabin, so when the earth started to shake we grabbed the kids (then four and one) and ran outside, then stood, blinking, with all the other non-locals.

My training is in geophysics, so I found it pretty fascinating. But once was enough.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yup, born in Boston, grew up about an hour away, in MA, on the NH border!

I find the idea of quakes really interesting, and actually was very curious what they were like. But being woken up by one is jarring!

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

Another "hello!" from New England. Myself, I grew up the coastal Deep South, so the big events were hurricanes, pull-off-the-road thunderstorms, and heat waves; I agree, blizzards are much calmer in comparison to at least the first of those. Just hunker! (Until it's time to dig out. That part's annoying.)

I'm told there have been a few earthquakes here, ones in New Hampshire and mid-Massachusetts that come to mind offhand; in theory, they've been detectable where I've lived, but they've never been enough to wake me. Fingers crossed that'll last -- I'm not a fan of events for which nothing really can be done. And here's hoping you stay safe there.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

So many New Englanders on my flist, that's nifty!

Ah, yes, the thunderstorms - I've been through those a couple times, but in a car they're more exciting than dangerous. As long as you're not trying to drive...

Yeah, the Northeast is due for a major quake, actually, to my understanding, but I never felt any of the little tremors. I've only felt half a dozen in the 3 years I've been in Japan, but they're still...rattling.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

My sis is nostalgic for the winters as well (Kyoto doesn't get any snow.) Me, I can't say I miss the snow shoveling XP

[ysabet.livejournal.com]

**waves from another Deep South person here** Hurricanes I can handle-- you know they're coming, you've got a pretty good idea where they're gonna make landfall, you've got time to get out if you don't wait 'til the last minute-- but the very idea of earthquakes scares the crap out of me. O_O

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

One of my college roommates was Californian, and was terrified by the threat of hurricanes, while I was just as disturbed by quakes. She would argue, "But it's just the ground moving!" Which, yes, that's the problem - the wind's supposed to blow, but the earth is supposed to stay still, far as I'm concerned!

[rogersgoeswest.livejournal.com]

For me, it's a toss up between earthquakes and tornadoes - we grew up with neither and I feel completely unprepared to handle their sudden destructive power. I get nervous driving over the extremely long Bay Bridge particularly and pray the entire time that this time won't be the last.

I am so neurotic.

(Also, I will not be able to keep from laughing a little if you are crushed to death under a pile of books. The irony would be too great...)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Tornadoes actually were a childhood nightmare of mine (thanks for The Wizard of Oz. Yes, yes, you know how sensitive I was XP) But at least you can hide underground from them - in a quake not even good old fashioned solid earth is safe. Freaky.

(...it would be rather the too perfect way for me to go, no? ^^;)

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Also, I will not be able to keep from laughing a little if you are crushed to death under a pile of books. The irony would be too great...

*snicker* Too true, ne? *huggles*

[sholio]

It's funny how you get used to stuff ... I'm used to quakes, of course (though I can see how they can be freaky, and I know a lot of people who are freaked out by them). I was more worried about the possibility of ice storms when I was visiting my sister in Ithaca this winter ...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

At least ice storms are beautiful...hee, though, there's something very ironic about you being worried about ice! (Is Alaska too cold for ice storms, then?) Though the random trees falling over on your house are just as likely as earthquakes...really, any time the world itself is attacking, it's scary in how it reminds us just how powerless we actually are.

[sholio]

Hee, you've got a point about the irony, though I hadn't even thought about that! It's not so much the ice storm *itself* that worries me (though it's true that we rarely get them; it's just too cold and dry) as the power outages, though. I'm used to being relatively self-sufficient, with enough food and water, and the ability to heat the house without power. The idea of being trapped in my sister's mobile home trailer during an extended power outage in cold weather kinda freaks me out.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you're not equipped for a power-out, they can be big trouble - we used to live in the downtown of our little town, so rarely lost power for more than 24 hours, but the ice storms back when I was in college took out some places' electricity for more than a week. Ithaca didn't get them as bad as New England, though, at least when I was there...

[julii-wolfe.livejournal.com]

I don't know how anyone could get used to it.

I live in Illinois, and we've had 2 minor earthquakes in the last 5 years. The first one I slept through; the second one, I woke up, thought, "huh, a neighbor must be blowing shit up in their yard," and then fell back asleep. I proceeded to have dreams about demolition equipment and explosions.

Earthquake is just not the first thing that comes to mind living here.

I can't imagine what it must be like for a nation like Japan that gets regular earthquakes. People get used to that stuff? As an explanation for why the walls of the house are shaking and the picture frames rattling, an earthquake doesn't even make it to the top ten list.

earthquakes = weird.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Everyone in Japan is used to the little tremors that set the lamps swinging...the bigger ones are bad news, but most people probably didn't even wake up for this one. We're sensitive, because, yeah, that's some crazy shit!

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

My big brother stayed out in California for awhile -- he enjoyed it, but the tiny little quake that went through (the one that didn't even wake up his native roommate) freaked him right the heck out.

I just indulge in the morbid little thought that lurks in the back of a lot of Missourians' minds -- tornadoes are old hat, but if the New Madrid fault line ever decided to shift again . . . well, like you said, there's really nothing I could do about that.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, from what I know the Northeast's been due for a big one for about the last fifty years...not much to do but cross our fingers and hope for the best. Japan at least is quake-prepared, and builds for it; East Coast America, not so much...

[winter-elf.livejournal.com]

yea, quakes don't faze me much except for jumping online to figure out where/how strong. But then I'm in CA :) There is the cartoon of a guy sitting in a chair holding up a cup of coffee while all around him people are running around screaming with hands waving. The joke was 'stop the native Californinan' :)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee, Californians do have a reputation for being laid-back, but about quakes especially I just can't keep my cool!

[ditch-gospel.livejournal.com]

Gosh, you really don't post much that isn't fic, do you? Hi!

I experienced two tremors during my stay in Tokyo, and it was pretty freaky. One was at 4am, and it was just like you said, lying in bed waiting for the shaking to stop. Doesn't keep me from wanting to go back, though. :)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hi~...umm, yes, I've never quite got the hang of non-fan blogging. ^^; It feels weird to talk about my regular life...but I haven't been writing at all lately, so I needed to say something!

The quakes aren't scaring me from Japan, no! Usually I don't even think about them, but they're hard for me to shake off right away...

[ditch-gospel.livejournal.com]

I'm not so good at the non-fannish posts either, so I totally get that. But still, it was good to 'see' you for a wee bit.

[katheli.livejournal.com]

Hurricanes and blizzards sound scary enough for me, I probably couldn´t handle either. I´ve never lived through an earthquake (although there was one just two years ago - I don´t think it even *registered* on any scale).
The only bad thing in Vienna is the heat in the summer. But then, that´s what air conditioning is for.^^

How is Japan? I´ve never been there (can´t really afford the ticket) but it´s always been a dream of mine.^^