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Being new to the whole “Blog Thing,” I was wondering where the inspiration for my next, and second, blog entry was going to come from.  Well, I got that inspiration this morning as I was woken up at 6 A.M. by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake; the largest of its kind since the “Big One” on March 11, 2011.  My area was still receiving frequent aftershocks until six hours after the initial quake.  The aftershocks have died down and are less frequent now, thankfully.

The quake triggered a small, and fortunately benign, tsunami that didn’t do any major damage aside from raising the inland river levels a tad and likewise raising a few eyebrows.  We were lucky this time.  However, today’s quake definitely raised my blood pressure and got my heart pumping.  Flashbacks to 2011 infected my thoughts, especially as the images on TV today showed a small wave moving through rivers and streams in the region.  I live many miles inland in the interior of the Tohoku region of Japan.  Major tsunamis, like the March 11, 2011 wave that devastated the northern coast of Japan, are not a big concern for me where I live.  If a tsunami were to ever reach my area, then it would probably be as a result of the Apocalypse, and that’s not a joke.

As far as damage is concerned, fortunately there isn’t much to report.  A few items in my English school got knocked over; nothing landed on the floor, though.  A few pictures on the wall were knocked slightly askew, but other than that, all is well.  Happily, my school is open today and it’s business as usual.  In my home the quake set off the automatic locking mechanisms on my cabinet doors which prevent the cabinets from opening and vomiting my dishes (plates, bowls, glasses, etc.) onto the floor.  Regardless of the lack of damage to my school and home, the shake definitely got my attention.

The question now on everyone’s mind here is, “Is this a sample of what is yet to come? Could we have another, stronger quake in a few days like we did when we had a ‘warning’ quake just two days before the March 11, 2011 one?” I truly hope not.  This was definitely the strongest quake the area has gotten since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.  That quake delivered a magnitude of around 9.0.  Interesting and troubling at the same time is the fact that the epicenter of today’s quake was in the same general location (off the coast of northern Japan) as the March 11th quake.

Well, as mentioned in my first blog entry, the purpose of this blog is to promote my writing.  So, If you would like to know what it is really like to experience a major earthquake firsthand (and live to tell the tale) then may I recommend my nonfiction e-book, “A Day of Horror:  The March 11, 2011 Japan Earthquake – A Foreigner’s Perspective.”  A convenient link to the book is located on the My Books page of this blog.  The book chronicles my personal experience on the day of March 11th itself and the following days, weeks and months as I struggled to piece my life back together and navigate the minefield that was the threat of radiation from the damaged nuclear facility on the Fukushima prefecture coast roughly thirty-six miles away from my home and school.  As always, I thank you for your patronage.

In closing, I kindly ask that you please keep the region of Tohoku, Japan in your thoughts and prayers during this uneasy time.  Hopefully, the coming days and weeks will prove that the earthquake that we received today was both the beginning and the end of our worries and that no more surprises like today await the people of northern Japan anytime soon.  By the way, to add insult to injury, we are expecting our first snowfall of the season in two days.  Joy.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S.A.  Eat some bird and pumpkin pie for me! Enjoy the games, too.

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