Some people have asked me if my husband and I are planning to return to America now, or if we are planning to take a trip home to escape from the natural disasters of Japan. The answer to these questions is: no.
I came from California, a place that is just as prone to earthquakes as any other place along the Pacific Ring of Fire. I have felt maybe a dozen earthquakes, mostly small. One of my clearest memories is the Quake of ’89 – the Loma Prieta Earthquake, also known as the World Series Earthquake, which struck the San Francisco Bay Area on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. It was a 6.9 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter of the quake was in Santa Cruz County, 106 miles (170 km) away from my home. I was almost four years old, and I was playing with my friend from down the street. She’s younger than me, so I don’t know if she even remembers it. It was a Tuesday, so both of our parents were at work. My grandmother was babysitting the both of us. We were sitting on the couch in the living room, making a castle out of alphabet blocks. I had a Donald Duck figurine and I placed him inside. The house started to shake. I was too young to understand what was going on. Our main concern was whether our alphabet block castle was going to tumble over. I held Donald Duck in my hand. I remembered a scene from an episode of Gumby Adventures, where the Blockheads picked up a house and started to shake it. I thought maybe someone was shaking our house, and I hoped that whoever it was would stop. My friend and I were scared because we didn’t know what was happening. Of course, my grandmother knew it was an earthquake, and she told us to cover our heads because there wasn’t a table nearby for us to get under. The shaking must have happened only briefly, because then it was over. My grandmother turned on the news and, worried about aftershocks, told us to get under the kitchen table and cover our heads in case the house started to shake again. I don’t think we had yet practiced earthquake drills in school, since I would’ve only been in kindergarten, and my friend was still too young to attend school. I remember my parents came home late, because they both worked out of town. I don’t remember too much else from that day though. But I will never forget how clueless and scared I was.
When my husband and I were applying for teaching positions in Japan, we knew that wanted to live in central Japan; so, we requested Shizuoka prefecture and luckily, we were placed here. Shizuoka is part of the Chubu region of Honshuu, otherwise known as the “central region”. To be more precise, Shizuoka is part of a sub-region called the Tokai Region, which means “East sea” and also includes Aichi, Gifu, and Mie prefectures. We are located just west to Tokyo prefecture, so we are on the border of the Kanto region of Honshuu. The Great Kanto Earthquake struck Japan on September 1, 1923 and measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. It devastated Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka prefectures. The resulting tsunami hit Japan’s coasts within minutes, including the east coast of Izu Peninsula. Japan is expecting a big earthquake to happen again in the Kanto region, but exactly when is unknown. The Tokai region is also known to have major earthquakes which occur regularly in 100-150 year intervals. The Tokai region has been struck by earthquakes in 1498 (8.4 magnitude), 1605 (7.9 magnitude), 1707 (8.4 magnitude), and 1854 (8.4 magnitude). As it has been 157 years since the last Tokai earthquake, we are being told that the next quake is overdue and most likely will be of magnitude 8 or higher, and therefore we must always be prepared. The epicenter of the 1854 quake was in Suruga Bay, less than 60 miles / 100 km from Hamamatsu City. We already knew that coming to Japan would mean living on an earthquake-prone island, but how different is that from living in California? I felt the Quake of ’89 caused by the San Andreas Fault. There is a chance of another 6.7 or greater earthquake to occur in the San Francisco Bay region again before 2032. My hometown sits on the Concord/Green Valley Fault, and is next to the West Napa Fault. I am just as likely to experience a major earthquake in Japan as I am in California.
That is why I am not going to panic and fly home, permanently or even for a quick visit. There is nowhere in the world that is truly safe from natural disaster – whether it is caused by an earthquake, or a hurricane, or a tornado. Natural disaster can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. All that I can do, no matter if I am in Shizuoka or in California, is to try and be prepared should the worst happen.
For information on how to prepare for a major disaster, I highly recommend visiting 72Hours.org, which has been prepared by the County of San Francisco. (This information is universal, not just San Francisco specific!) 72Hours.org provides information on home safety, emergency kits, earthquakes, flooding, tsunami, and much, much more.
