This past week, we have had Greg, Scott's brother, and his wife Missy visiting us from Arlington, Texas. We have spent the week (another blog will cover all of the fun week leading up to the earthquake) being touristy- literally on the go all day long, every day. On Wednesday, we went to the top of the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills to get great photos of the view of Tokyo...that day, there was a 7.3 earthquake and we didn't think twice about going up to the sky deck on one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. Thursday, we spent the day in Kamakura, which is an hour outside of Tokyo by train. Friday, because everyone was super tired, we decided to stick close to home- do laundry, run a few errands and just have some down time before Greg and Missy flew off Saturday to go to Phuket, Thailand. Maya had the day off because of Parent Teacher conferences, and Hanna had a half day, also due to Parent Teacher conferences. Scott was out in Inagi in the morning- Inagi is literally an hour train ride from our home- and then the afternoon in Idabashi at Stryker Japan for some meetings. Idabashi is a lot closer to our home than his work in Inagi (which he is at 95% of the time). It is also home to big high rise buildings all close in proximity. That morning, I worked out with some friends,and then Greg, Missy, Maya and I picked up Hanna from school and we took them out to lunch at our favorite Hamburger place. From there, because it was a beautiful day, Greg took the girls to the park, and Missy and I went into Shibuya to do some shopping- buy some fabric for a friend, get Greg a book and pick up dinner at the Food Show under the Shibuya train station. We took our time getting back, stopping in a few shops along the way. Once we got back to the park, we decided to head home and relax. We had just walked out of the Yoyogi-Uehara train station and reached the corner of Inokashira Dori when the earthquake started. The shakes started fairly mildly, but then kept getting more intense. We all huddled together, as did everyone around us. Kids were crying (including mine), the Koban (police) all came out as did everyone- the streets were filling with people. Immediately you knew it was serious- people were very controlled, but you could see the fear. The buildings, stoplights, train tracks, wires- everything was shaking violently. It seemed to go on for a very long time as we all just held on to each other. Maya says it was like we were standing on a raft in the water- with no control of our feet..very good description of what it felt like. We were very lucky in the fact that we were in an open area, and had something to lean on. Maya started crying and Hanna kept saying "everything will be OK, everything will be OK", while hugging her. It was a very intense, scary few minutes that I would like never to have to feel again. A Japanese man, carrying a transistor type radio came over and let us listen to the English warnings and news about what just happened. The earthquake just kept going and going, and the aftershocks have been happening quite a lot since the initial Huge quake. We walked up the street to our apartment, to find everyone had been evacuated outside. Everyone said it was VERY bad inside the building, and that it was swaying like crazy, things were falling off the walls, out of cabinets, etc. It was very scary- the middle and high school kids were still out at ASIJ in school, people were trying to reach their spouses (including me) and make sure they were OK. My one friend and neighbor had one of her girls sick at home, the other at school and a husband that was out of the country for work. Lots of tears were flowing and people were very nervous and scared. They finally let us back in the building lobby, where we stayed for about 45 minutes, only to experience another big quake/after shock, in which they made us go back outside. About 2 hours later we finally got to go into our apartments. We had minimal movement in our place- a speaker had fallen over, picture frames were all fallen down, etc., but no major damage or issues. Scott was in Idabashi, walking to meetings at Stryker Japan. At first, he didn't know what was going on- people were spilling out of buildings and running all over the place. He had a glass window fall from the building next to him and land 5 feet in front of him...it was a scary, scary day. He ended up walking about 10K (6-7 miles) home, as Tokyo was in a major gridlock- trains all shut down, expressways all closed, traffic not moving. It was mass chaos, and I was SO happy to see him walk in our door last night around 9pm. Scott's workplace in Inagi was damaged quite a bit- everything fell over, the stairs cracked, and a lot of his workforce was stuck at work for the night, or didn't get home until 5 or 6am this morning. One of his workers walked 12 hours home...how horrendous and scary. The cell phones were all down, so there was no calling to see if anyone was OK, but luckily, the internet was up and running.
I feel that we were so fortunate yesterday. Our normal routine/day would have had Maya 45 minutes outside of Tokyo in school (the buses didn't get home until after 11pm last night), Hanna 15 minutes away at school, Scott out about an hour outside of Tokyo in Inagi (one exit past Maya's school), and who knows where I would have been. We would have been trying to find each other, figure out where and how the others were, etc...it could have been a way more stressful day for us as a family. I was blessed and truly grateful to have both of my girls with me, as well as have Greg and Missy with us through the quake. I know it is not something they probably even ever considered being part of, and probably will not come back here to Japan again, but I am so glad I was not alone with the kids.
The entire day yesterday was filled with very large after shocks, which were completely unnerving. They continued through the night, with another 6.6 after shock rocking Tokyo around 4:45am. We all had a few beers (definitely needed), and slept fairly well- I woke up for about 6 after shocks, and everyone but the girls woke during the 4:45am one. My girls were very scared, and slept together. Right now, the day after, we are still getting after shocks, but not nearly as often. They are saying over 4million people in Tokyo are out of power. We are not one of them, but the Embassy now says we need to conserve power, as their may be some shut downs coming throughout the day. We have filled the tubs with water, as a precaution and are going to stay close to home today.
My perspective on Tokyo and earthquakes is a lot different now. I usually leave Hanna, 5, in the apartment while I run up to grab Maya at the bus stop- that will not be happening again. My girls roam the building, and most often, I have no idea where they are or what they are doing...I will definitely be keeping closer tabs on my kiddos. I am also extremely glad that we thought ahead when choosing where to live and what type of building to live in. I was pretty nervous about moving here, to Japan, in the Ring of Fire, and both Scott and I wanted to live in a smaller building, with the new roller earthquake technology (the buildings actually sit on rollers so they can move with the earth, instead of fighting the quake). Our building is built into a hillside, only 5 floors and is relatively new...which is why the damage was not terrible.
The devastation here in Japan is horrendous. Many lives lost, as well as overall damage to everything, due to both the earthquake and the later ensuing tsunami. It is going to be a rough go for Tokyo, and especially for those who live closer to Sendai, where the quake and the tsunami hit the hardest. It is a sad time here in Japan, and the new photos and coverage have been making us sad all morning.
Here are some photos from Scott's work:
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