And it has shaken again 👹🍣🎎 My Japan

We were almost forgetting that here in Japan this year had started with a very special bang, when we were reminded once again that here in the land of the rising sun we have a front row seat to the dance on the volcano. And it seemed to me that this time it happened with an announcement and I could actually have seen it coming.

But let's take a quick look back: The new year had only just begun when on New Year's Day a violent earthquake reminded us that here in Japan we are located on part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which regularly entertains most of the Pacific Rim countries with seismological activity. Japan has been hit by earthquakes several times in the past, and most Japanese people still remember the 2011 disaster in particular, which explains their overly cautious behavior during the recent earthquakes. The earthquake center was only about 200 kilometers away from our city and therefore we were shaken quite a bit, which led to an immediate tsunami warning, which since we live near the sea listened to carefully.

Unfortunately, the area directly affected suffered major damage, which has led to extensive evacuations and restrictions up to the present day, but life somehow went on in the rest of the country and our everyday routine was almost back. Here in Japan, you always live with the risk that the forces of nature might beat you, and most people have probably gotten used to that a long time ago. There's no other way to live your own life, even if the many precautionary measures for earthquakes and other natural disasters are always omnipresent. But at some point, the risk becomes routine and you simply ignore a lot of things that are connected with it. Until things start to shake again!

And that's exactly what happened this week. The night before, we had suddenly come up with the subject of earthquakes because one of the TV experts had predicted a strong quake in our area, which could happen within two weeks. Our house would probably not survive this unscathed, and even though I am usually skeptical of such predictions, I was wondering what we should or should not do. If there really is a serious and confirmed earthquake warning for your own region, there is only one real option, and that would be to leave that region, at least temporarily. But in the end, such warnings remain rather vague and leave a lot of room for interpretation.

However, these thoughts must have still been in my head the next morning, because when just after six o'clock the house started shaking, I was immediately awake and got out of bed. In previous quakes, I would have quickly rolled over again and tried to sleep comfortably. But this time I headed straight downstairs to check how and where exactly the quake had hit. The location was exactly as predicted the day before, but fortunately the magnitude of the quake was significantly less than predicted. Luckily there was no damage this time, and in the end nothing changed. This was not the major earthquake predicted by some experts, a quake which would take the pressure off the tectonic plates. A magnitude 3 is far too low for that, although that morning it kept me on my toes for a short time.

In the end, nobody knows for sure whether there will be more. And therefore no one knows what the best course of action is. Despite all this, we are now at least back to the topic of the "emergency bag", which we want to check again to bring it up to date. You can never be prepared for everything, and if you're out and about like we were during the New Year's quake, even the best emergency bag won't help you if it's waiting under the rubble of your own house. We'll probably put a few extra things in the car in the hope that we'll at least be able to get access to them if the worst comes to the worst.

At least my awareness for this issue has increased again, even if I am actually rather careless in this regard. Some things you just prefer to dismiss and try to ignore in the hope that the problem will pass you by. Nobody can really tell you what the best thing to do is, and if you ask ten experts, you can expect up to ten different answers. But it's probably not a bad idea to think about a few more preparations and optimize what we've already prepared so far. If, in the end, it turns out that everything was unnecessary and not needed, we will nevertheless breathe a sigh of relief and be glad that it went the way it did.

The earthquake topic will probably be on the agenda in Japan several more times this year, even if I prefer to concentrate on other matters. There are so many things I have planned for the coming months and I don't like to think gloomy thoughts. On the contrary, I prefer optimism and cheerfulness, and you should always have some of that ready and placed in your emergency bag. That might also help you in times when things are shaking and rattling again.