Typhoon, earthquake and survival

What a weekend!

Obviously there is no logical explanation on why on 3 day-weekend alone one country could be attacked with so many natural disasters.

I and my drumming friend O.Div went up North to visit my Japanese family in Niigata on Friday evening. We were welcomed with a cold evening and was awaken by the rattling sound of rain on the sun-roof the following morning. The big typhoon was broadcasted to have hit Okinawa and was moving up towards Kyoto and Tokyo and eventually to the northern coast. The typhoon did not create many problems for Niigata area, except for the ongoing 24 hours of rain and wind.

Sunday was only mildly raining, and around 4 pm the coast was declared clear, so we ventured the Niigata Jazz Street festival. Some old friend's jazz band was performing at one of the hot spot at the festival, so we had to go and check it out.
We went up to one of Niigata skyscraper "Next 21" building to get a bird's eye view. We made it in time during the sunset and caught a very interesting mother nature phenomenon. the coast line was clear and blue but the black cloud was looming above the coast, with snippets of red from the sun there. The rest of the evening was pretty much uneventful. We sent away O.Div with the last shinkansen back to Tokyo and I was just hanging out with the family and chatted the evening away for the rest of the evening.

Monday came with me staring at the blue sky under the sun-roof. Yes! Finally a beautiful day!
I buzzed around getting ready and packed things and was about to undress and jump into the shower when I heard a loud noise. BANG!
Seconds later I heard my 10 yo little sister screamed from the attic. I opened the bathroom door to see what's going on and she pelted into the bathroom and clung to me, shaking. Or at least I thought that she was shaking. Moments later I realized that it wasn't her. The ground was shaking and the entire house was rocking along with it! Okasan* screamed for my little sister's name and ordered us to go the 1st floor. There we all opened all windows and ran quickly outside, together with the dog. The earth was still moving for about 10 minutes or so, and all our neighbors were out on the street - making sure that we're a significant distant away from walls and buildings.

After that, all was quiet.

Our house is located quite close to the coast of Niigata sea and we were wondering if we're going to be tsunami prone. Thankfully, our area was OK. We heard sirens coming from the coastline and some helicopters approaching as well. Otosan** turned on the TV and immediately we saw that the epicenter was indeed in Niigata prefecture, off the Chuetsu coast. The city that suffered the most is Kashiwazaki. It was 6.8 RM (Richter scale) in Kashiwazaki and was 5 RM in Niigata city. No wonder the shake was quite large and lasted a while.
The rest of the day we were still getting some after shake.
We spent a few minutes getting some emergency bags ready, as well as sleeping bags, and have all our shoes in order, just in case we need to bolt to the door in moments notice.

As of 10:30 am, all transportation systems leaving Niigata was suspended indefinitely.



For my part, I was stranded the entire day in Niigata. This is such a bad news since I had to attend 3 meetings the following day in Tokyo. Having all my my stuff packed, my eyes and ears were glued to the TV broadcast. The aim was clear: once we get news that the shinkansen service resumed its operation, Otosan would start the car and we'd be at the train station within 15 minutes.
Which was what happened at 6:15 pm. We rushed to the station, I made my way to the ticket gate and there was an announcement that the service had been re-suspended because one of the tunnels collapsed. No one could guarantee when the train will resume its service.
Fortunately the bus services had re-opened, the land authority had redirected the bus to avoid the damaged area. So, I thought, well... I guess I better line up for the 5 hours bus ride to Tokyo. Right, I wasn't the only one who needed to be back in Tokyo. All buses were fully booked, I couldn't even get a seat to go to the neighboring prefecture.
Otosan then rushed me to Niigata airport to catch the last plane out at 8:30 pm. Another failure -the plane was full.
Then we rushed back again to Niigata bus center and got me a ticket for the first bus out towards Kanto region. I was enlisted for 7:50 am bus towards Takasaki (Gunma prefecture), where I can get a train connection to Tokyo.

After one day of exhausting drama I decided to go to bed early, with my clothes on and bag on the ready - just in case there is another quake. At 5 am Okasan woke me up to say that the news has broadcasted that the shinkansen service has returned to service. And at 6:03 am I was well on my way back to Tokyo.

There are many things that I am grateful for Japan. Their swiftness in dealing with natural disaster is one of them.

p.s.
Thanks so much for the phone calls and messages. I am well and safe back in Tokyo. My loved ones in Niigata are all safe, too.


*Okasan = Mother
**Otosan = Father