I feel the earth move under my feet

Here's a scary statistic for you --

20% of the world's earthquakes take place in Japan!

The Japanese archipelago is located in an area where four continental and oceanic plates meet.




Sometimes these plates get frisky and rub up on each other. Sometimes there is some pushing and shoving too, like aggressive drunks in a bar. This is the cause for frequent earthquakes and the presence of many volcanoes and hot springs across Japan. The beautiful and iconic Mount Fuji is actually not a mountain at all, but rather a dormant volcano, and is Japan's highest point. Fuji has not erupted since 1707.

Earthquakes, however, really do happen ALL THE FREAKIN TIME. You sort of get used to it... Sort of. I still get nervous every time I feel one. One second you're peacefully making a sandwich, humming to yourself in the kitchen, and the next second you realize the earth is swaying, swaying, swaying below your feet.

In September there was a 4.2 magnitude quake, and I was in school in the middle of the class. I held on to the table and looked around nervously, but the kids didn't even BLINK! They just chatted like normal through the whole thing as though nothing were happening. I guess they are so accustomed to it, it does not bother them at all.

Today one was measured just off the north coast of Japan's most northern island, Hokkaido, with a 8.1 magnitutde. That is freakin HUGE.




There have been some tsunamis occuring, but I live quite far inland, so I won't be affected at all.

The last major earthquake to hit Tokyo was in 1923, where over 100,000 people died and a large area of the city was destroyed. The scary thing is that they think massive quakes like this happen every 70 years or so. You do the math. Perhaps I chose a bad time to come to Japan!

In Japan, it is sort of scary that earthquakes are simply accepted as an inevitable fact of life. It is not a question of if, but rather WHEN. They all know it is bound to happen - THE BIG ONE - and that hundreds of thousands of people will die. Sort of a strange reality, no? To KNOW without a doubt that it WILL happen, and that there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. 30 million people live in Tokyo today. If tomorrow The Big One hits, can you imagine the devastation? But life just goes on as normal... I suppose all I can do is hope that it does not take place while I am here!