The Saints are Coming

For those of you just joining us, every post's title is a song reference in some way connected with my life. Normally, I leave it up to the reader to determine it's origin, but I feel I need to take special care with this title in light of recent events. It refers to the cover of the Saints are Coming by U2 and Greenday in an effort to raise support for Hurricane Katrina's victims. I find it again applicable to the earthquake and tsunami victims of Japan.

The following is an account of my actual experience in Tokyo, far away from the epicenter in Sendai:

The first quake hit a little after 2:30 Japan time. My class was busy practicing kanji. One classmate in particular was call to the whiteboard to draw the current character. Halfway through the writing, small tremors could be felt. They felt something akin to the subway passing while you wait on the platform. It took about a minute for the entire class to realize that this was indeed an earthquake. Then the bigger quakes began. Our television began to swing back and forth in its ceiling mount.

Our teacher told us to get under our desks and stay there until it passed. The students reacted in various ways. Some were genuinely frightened and did as the teacher told them. Others were less so and moved around as the tremors continued. When the electric pole outside started sparking, a good deal of the class emerged from their desks to watch.

My personal reaction was one of mild bemusement. I had felt smaller tremors throughout my stay in Japan and this one, while larger, didn’t seem to pose much risk. The building I was in felt solid enough to withstand the quake, so I wasn’t particularly worried. Instead I looked around at the other students to see their own reactions.

As the first quakes subsided, my classmates began milling about the room, unsure of what to do. One stubbornly remained under her desk and refused to come out, insisting that another quake would soon follow. The teacher moved to the whiteboard and pointed to the one student’s recently drawn kanji. “だめ” (incorrect) she said. The student in question blamed the mistake on the quake.

I sat down at my desk and looked over at the clock. After a few minutes it would be break and I could go out and get food. I joked that we should continue class for those few minutes.

That’s when the second series of quakes started. It wasn’t as powerful as the first, but it reminded us that it wasn’t over. In total, both lasted around 20 minutes (though eyewitness reporting is often the most unreliable). This being my first large quake, I had no idea anything was out of the ordinary. Japan is famous for it’s quakes, right? I learned from a California resident who was present at the Northridge Quake that two ten minute long tremors are alarming. The Northridge Quake itself only lasted about a minute.

The rest of the classes had evacuated to the street or a nearby park. There were several crying in the streets as others tried to comfort them. I’m sorry to say that I believed that everyone was overreacting.

So what do I do after being allowed to leave? I go to the local convenience store for a snack. The store clerks are busy putting thing back on shelves, but serve me promptly after I make my selection. In our small exchange, I don’t here anything in their voices to tip me off to the size of the quake. Business as usual.

I return to the classroom to find out classes are canceled. I also find out that all the trains are stopped. Those between stations are forced to exit the train and walk the rest of the way to the nearest station. I and about 15 other American students who live outside of walking distance are forced to stay at the school overnight. Given the lack of beds, none of us get really good sleep. We’re not the only ones stranded. There sidewalks are packed with commuters and traffic is at a practical standstill.

At this point there is practically nothing on the internet about the quake except the start of a Wikipedia article. I used email facebook to sarcastically tell everyone that I survived an earthquake.1 It is only after I make these first few posts that information starts coming in regarding the scale of this quake. A big screen TV in a local shop window shows the havoc that the tsunami is causing in Sendai. I finally realize that this is actually a big deal and do my best to apologize for my earlier sarcasm.

The restaurants and convenience stores are packed with customers. By nightfall, almost every readily consumable food is sold out. It is a surreal experience looking at the empty shelves.

The trains gradually come online. The subway sometime after midnight and my own train line at 7 am. The conductors are still taking extreme car in operating the trains and they only move a little bit faster than I can run. It takes me about an hour and a half to cover the 10 miles to my homestay. I collapse in my bed and spend the next four hours sleeping.

Aside from being tired and out of sorts I am fine. I feel like I was a spectator on the sidelines of a large event, close enough to be connected, but far enough away to be complete safe. My heart goes out to those who weren’t so lucky.

1: I have left my original blog post and comments intact no matter how insensitive they may sound. I think it is important to have my feeling at the time captured before I fully understood the impact.