Now I have walked home. I learned something about automatic bicycle parking machines today. They don’t work after an earthquake. I just hope it is my bike that is popping out once they start working again, and not an old rusty lady’s bike 😉

Chie also walked home as subways and trains closed down. And they just announced on TV that they will remain closed down for the rest of the day. And we were not the only ones walking home. I have never seen so many people walking, except maybe in Ginza during sales 😀

Anyway, the apartment was quite OK. No major things broken. Furnitures had moved around and a lot of things had fallen down from shelfs and so on. I’ll update with some pictures later.

They are saying this is the biggest earthquake that hit Japan since recording started and the 8th biggest in the world since recording started [wikipedia]. 8.9 in magnitude on the Richter scale at the epicenter and 5 or so around the Tokyo area. After the first quake hit us the building I was sitting in was shaking almost continuously for 1.5 hours. And as I am writing this at 7:40 pm there are still some minor quakes in the aftermath.

For the latest earthquake data in Japan you can have a look at: Japanese Meteorological Agency. By the way, the numbers you see in the map above is JMA Seismic Intensity scale which differs from the Richter scale.

The building where my office is located is still swaying after the biggest earthquake I have experienced so far. Haven’t had time to check where the center was or at what magnitude but we really felt this one in Tokyo.

This morning we woke up around 6 am by a giant hand gripping the building and shaking it from side to side. Could not go back to sleep for just 30 minutes so I closed my eyes and rested until it was time to wake up. Can you sync the earthquake god with your alarm clock?

Was wakened by an earthquake at 5:45 this morning. It was not a big one, just big enough to wake you up. Around 2-3 on the Richter scale according to Japan Meteorological Agency. This particular earthquake was recorded at http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/20091218055645391-180541.html

Anyway, now I am up so I can as well get ready to go to Kanazawa. Get to Haneda airport early and have breakfast there.

Woke up at 4 am this morning. Jet lagged. Could not sleep. Read a book instead. And got shaken at around 5 am by an earthquake. No damages, not even close to the epicenter in Shizuoka.