12 March 2011

During the night I was aware of several sizable shakes but overall was amazed at how well I slept and Emily didn't stir until at least 7am. Masahiko managed to get himself booked on a an early shinkansen from Shinagawa, and I was sceptical that he would be able to go, but Nick walked him there and amazingly he was able to take the train home. Nick said that the three lane road was closed southbound to allow for all the pedestrians, with all cars sharing the other carriageway. I was keen to look at footage but wary of frightening Emily so I didn't see much. What I did see was like nothing imaginable. I wondered at how people could build so near and low to the water level and hope they are never allowed to do so again. To be honest, it almost seems like a different country, seeing those homes smashed to matchwood, cars washed away, large ships lying askew. There are literally tens of thousands unaccounted for. We ended up having a very quiet morning at home, though with every tremor Emily was scared and I felt seasick all morning. My every move made me query whether there was a quake; my only corroboration that I was not imagining it was the rattly door and the swaying of the light cords. After lunch we finally got outside into the spring sunlight, and played outside at a couple of playgrounds. After coffee in a surprisingly normal Azabu, we went up to Julia's where Cliff was in charge while Julia did some last minute chores before their move. Emily was extremely weary and it showed. After she finally went to bed we watched more footage of the Fukushima nuclear plant seemingly blowing up, and hoped we were not about to be engulfed in radioactive fallout (just in case, we filled a 20 litre container of water and I checked our tinned food supplies). Just before bed there was a warning on TV of a strong quake off Fukushima and we surfed the wave of quivers washing through our apartment. Once upon a time a tremor like this would have terrified me, but after yesterday I am almost casual about it.