So, I’m back in Japan for the 13th time. No, I am NOT a triskadekaphobe… or at least that is what I keep telling myself. The plane ride was uneventful, although I am glad I went through SFO since LAX closed down due to some TSA stupidity. Because of that, I don’t think my supplier rep from the US is going to be here in Japan, but that is not a big deal.
The big deal is that last night here there were two earthquakes (6.9 and 7.3) off the coast of Japan. It happened sometime between 11:45 and midnight. I was in bed, but not yet asleep when I noticed there was this weird metal flexing noise. At first I thought it was the neighbors having a little TOO much fun… but then I realized that the building was swaying like a tree in the wind and that the noise was coming from the walls, both interior and especially exterior! I am on the 34th floor of this building, which is one of the taller ones in Nagoya and my room was swaying so much I could barely stand up. Luckily nothing else was moving around though. I sent an email to Christi quickly (while the quake was still going) and then stood in the doorway of the bathroom, but it was flexing so much that I figured it didn’t make much sense to stand there, so I just went back and laid in bed until it stopped. I looked outside but didn’t see any fires or obvious damage, nor was there any alarm in the hotel, so I just went to sleep. This earthquake was definately worse than the one I was in in Oregon, but that might have been due to being in this tall building. All I can say is that thank god that the Japanese know how to build for earthquakes….
Gotta run to work…
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