Category: Various

Since last week we are starting to have aftershocks of magnitude larger than 7, during last month we had hundreds of aftershocks but always smaller than 7. One of the aftershocks of last week, a 7.1 earthquake with epicenter near Fukushima, caused “only” three deaths, four fires and a strange “luminescence phenomenon” in the transformers of a power plant in Sendai:

Source: Neetetsu.

Yesterday in Tokyo we felt one of the strongest aftershocks in the last month (not counting the aftershocks during the day after the big earthquake). This time it was “only” a 7.1 earthquake on solid ground in Fukushima, much nearer from Tokyo than the aftershocks of the last weeks with epicenter in the sea. This is a graph of the more than 900 earthquakes of last month, you can appreciate how the average magnitude has started to increase during last week, we hope it starts to decrease soon 🙂

Source: Fleep.com

On Sunday I go out to the street to walk around the city. 80% of subway lines in Tokyo are already running and we can move with certain liberty. I can see how the Shinkansen service to the south-west of Japan is running smoothly:

Bullet train coming out of Tokyo Station on Sunday morning.

There are very few people on the streets compared to a normal Sunday in Tokyo. I walk around the surroundings of the Emperor Palace; the security area around the palace has been increased, most likely as an extra security measure because of the earthquake on Friday.

The Japanese Emperor Palace two days after the earthquake.

While I’m walking, I feel how the ground is vibrating once again, the trees are shaking a little bit, I stop to see if it’s going to get stronger or not. Luckily, after twenty seconds, it stops and everything is back to normal again. I see on Twitter that it was a small earthquake of 5.8 with epicenter in one of the prefectures to the north of Tokyo.

At the parks around the palace there’s barely any people, normally they are full of tourists.

Downtown streets near Tokyo Station are empty.

I go back home soon to get the latest news about the tragedy. When I sit in front of my computer I feel how another earthquake is coming. To confirm that it is in fact an earthquake, what everybody does is to check the curtains or a lamp to see if they are really moving or not. When you have lived through several days of continuous seismic movements every two or three hours, you end up having “earthquake hallucinations”. You think that everything is moving, but it turns out to be a product of the imagination of your brain. It is something similar to when you go on a boat and you are not used to it, when you step on solid ground again you still feel some kind of dizziness. I look at the curtains carefully and it seems like they are not moving at all; luckily it’s me the one that is making up the earthquake in his brain.

To clear up my mind I take a shower, but this time I’m not lucky enough and an earthquake catches me while I’m showering. It’s not very cool that all the house moves while you are showering, but I take it easy and stupidly laugh at myself.

More posts about the March 2011 Earthquake:

• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 1
• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 2
• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 3
• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 4
• A week in Fukuoka

I receive e-mails from colleagues and friends that can’t go home, others say that they have been walking for seven hours, almost 30km. Hotels in downtown Tokyo are full. News from the situation in the north continue to arrive and the number of victims starts to grow.

I have to sleep next to a backpack with food, water and a flashlight. But sleeping is not easy, most of us can’t sleep because of the multiple aftershocks that happen throughout the night. Unable to sleep well, on Saturday at 5:00am I am already getting the latest news: thousands of refugees and problems with the nuclear power plant at Fukushima.

Around 9:00am I go out to the streets to see how the atmosphere is. There are much less people than usual in the streets and the shelves in the supermarkets are empty. Everything else seems normal and quiet in Tokyo, however we still feel some aftershocks every two or three hours.

We are all sad and worried about the situation, but we need to disconnect, at mid afternoon we manage to gather a group of some friends (the ones that can move by bicycle or scooter) to celebrate the birthdays of Carlos and I. We don’t have anything to celebrate, but we need to get together and calm down; we have a lot to talk about, we all share our feelings and comment how we are living the situation.

Nothing better than to be with friends in a situation like this. Thanks, you are the best! We will all celebrate in some weeks as it should have been.

Our cakes, 24 hours after the earthquake; also they were affected by the shaking of the earthquake:

Very tired because of the lack of sleep and worried about the news that are arriving from the north, we all go back home soon to try to get some rest.

More posts about the March 2011 Earthquake:

• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 1
• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 2
• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 3
• How I lived the Greatest Earthquake in the History of Japan – Part 5
• A week in Fukuoka