The Big One

Growing up in Canada, the closest I came to a natural disaster was The Great Blizzard of '78. We got to stay home from school, toboggan around the neighbourhood and play in the streets since there was no traffic. The next Great Blizzard hit in '99. Again, hardly a conundrum. Food and alcohol could still be delivered as long as you shovelled a path to your front door. We took the opportunity of being snowed in for three days to binge-watch TV shows. Not much different than a typical winter really. I had no idea how diverse Mother Nature would be when I moved to Japan; a country notorious for earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons.

Soon after settling into my new town of Shizuoka, I visited the Earthquake Disaster Prevention Centre to ensure I was armed with the necessary information and skills to keep myself safe. There was a simulation room to experience what a quake would feel like, and a tsunami theatre. I learned about seismologists, magnitudes, Eurasia and Philippine Sea plates; things I was previously unacquainted with. The staff repeatedly mentioned The Big One, referring to the Tokai Earthquake. A major earthquake was predicted to hit the Tokai area in the near future with a magnitude of at least an 8.0. The quake which was expected to kill thousands wasn't the only concern. The 100-foot waves from the tsunamis caused by the quake, would destroy the very city in which I now lived! I was now officially worried.

The trip to the Centre was educational. One thing I had learned at a young age from my Girl Guide Leader was to always BE PREPARED. I had to get an emergency kit put together with enough supplies to last 72 hours. I packed a bag and waited. And waited. Then waited some more.

An earthquake can happen anywhere and at anytime with no warning. You could be at work, riding the train, singing at a karaoke bar, or in the bath. One of the first quakes I felt was in an underground bar where I sat drinking beer with other English teachers. It lasted a short time, and it barely made a gap in our conversation. We were in a safe location being underground and our night carried on.

After living in Japan for a while, I started to feel less fearful of the quakes. I had experienced a handful of smaller ones and they weren't as scary as I thought they would be. I would play Tori Amos' Little Earthquakes and sigh with relief that I avoided The Big One once again. When my cousin Kenny came for a visit, he got to experience a small earthquake. He was rattled but other than the light fixture swinging a bit and some dishes rattling around in the cupboard, it was almost unnoticeable. Most people in the city wouldn't have known there was a quake until they watched the evening news. That all changed on a night in April of 2000.

I had just drifted off to sleep sometime around midnight when I was suddenly jounced awake. My light fixture was swinging violently above my bed, my wooden bedroom doors were rattling loudly, and I was being bounced around in my bed. I felt like Linda Blair in The Exorcist as my bed lifted me not only up and down, but shook me side to side. My heart jumped in my throat and I froze. I thought for sure this was The Big One and that I would perish in my 5th floor apartment with no means of escape. I could hear sirens blaring from the street below and decided to take action. Thoughts raced through my head as I frantically tried to remember what I had learned at the Earthquake Centre.

I jumped out of bed, flipped on my light, and searched for my eyeglasses. Unable to find them, I cursed my terrible vision and grabbed the next best thing; my prescription swimming goggles. I donned my emergency kit, thanked God I slept in my bra and decent pajamas, then remembered my pet turtle.

Mi-chan

I couldn't leave Mi-chan behind to fend for himself. Although the earthquake didn't even cause him to stir from his sleep, I grabbed his container and food and bolted for the door where my neighbours (two fellow Canadians) were knocking.




Opening my bedroom door, I ran smack into my fridge that had shook clear across the kitchen floor. Stepping around the fridge, I simultaneously heard and felt the crunch under my feet. I looked down to find most of my dishes and glassware broken and scattered all over the kitchen floor. I stepped cautiously to the front door and unlocked it.

When I opened the door, my neighbours found me carrying my turtle, wearing my emergency pack, and swimming goggles. Their fear was immediately squashed by this vision and they burst into laughter. I couldn't find the humour just yet as my heart was still beating frantically in my chest. The tremors had stopped but I knew there would be aftershocks and possibly a tsunami. That was sure to follow after such a big quake.

My neighbours came inside and we carefully stepped around the broken glass and made our way into my living room. My books and plants were scattered all over the floor. Luckily my TV was still standing. After calling around to friends to make sure they were all right, we turned on the news to discover the earthquake had hit the city centre (where our apartment building was located) with a magnitude of 5.3. Then on a smaller scale, the aftershocks began. No tsunami and no injuries. Figuring we were going to live but wouldn't be able to sleep, I swapped my goggles for my contact lenses, and we headed to the bar down the street.

After that night, I kept shoes beside my bed and my eyeglasses on my headboard. A few months passed and I was able to fall asleep without thinking or worrying about The Big One. I had learned from my mistakes. I was prepared! My shelves were bolted to the wall or ground to prevent them from knocking over. My kitchen cupboards were much more secure. No more walking into a refrigerator in the middle of the night or stepping on broken glass.

The next quake hit while I was sleeping, much like the previous one. Even though I was scared, I wanted to test my alacrity. I grabbed my glasses, turned on my light, slipped into my shoes, grabbed both my turtle and my bag and ran to the door to let my neighbours in. The trembling stopped. I managed to get to my front door in under 20 seconds. This earthquake was only a 3.5. I was getting better.

Coming from disaster-free Canada, these earthquakes shook me to my core. Thankfully I avoided The Big One while living in Japan, but experiencing natural disasters taught me to appreciate life and what's important. They also taught me to always...always...be prepared.

~MT