March Challenge - Day 9: Earthquake in Japan

Before I start my blog, if you haven't done so already, and you want to help in the relief efforts in Japan, please think about donating to the Red Cross. Click this link to donate directly.

I woke up this morning and while I had planned to work from home, I looked outside to groan at the terrible weather outside. "Rain, again?" I asked myself, "lucky, I don't have to leave my house today." Like all people of my generation, I turned on my computer and logged onto my email and then checked my social networks. First posts I see talked about an earthquake in Japan, which ultimately made me go right to theglobeandmail.com. As the page uploaded, I thought to myself, "I probably shouldn't have complained about the rain."

Horrified is nothing short of feeling I had when reading about the disaster. Throughout the day as I worked, I had the BBC coverage on in the background and the footage that was captured was incredible.

Here are some stats of today's quake:

- 5th worst earthquake reported in history
- lasted for six minutes
- shifted the world's access by 20cm
- tsunamis measuring 23ft high
- 88,000 people still unaccounted for

I've always had a fondness for Japan. My family moved there when I was four years old and my dad was there to compete his Masters education. I don't have that many memories - most of them are captured in photos to Tokyo Disneyland and Mount Fuji. I do remember being fluent in Japanese and always having small lunchboxes to bring to school everyday. I took a trip there back in 2006 with my dad on one of those tours and we spent time in Tokyo and Ito. It's truly a fascinating country with an equally fascinating history and culture.

Japan sits near one of the most active shifting tectonic plates in the world, so it was not a surprise that an event like this happened today. What is shocking is the amount of damage it caused the world's most prepared country in earthquake disaster.

In the last two years, I've experienced three earthquakes. Back in 2009 when I was in Taiwan over the Christmas holidays, I experienced a minor quake that lasted for 20 seconds. We weren't that close to the epicentre, but it was frightening nonetheless. During Easter last year, when I was in LA visiting family, I experienced an earthquake that hit southern California. Again, nowhere near the epicenter, but the 10 seconds worth of shaking was not amusing. Finally, back in early June, Toronto experienced an earthquake and the city flipped out (most people thought it was a terrorist attack before the G20 summit). Social media networks in the city trended hashtags of EARTHQUAKE and immediately Facebook newsfeeds were littered with EARTHQUAKE in all caps.

So I can't even imaging being stuck in what the people of Japan had to go through today for nearly six minutes of shaking, falling debrid and watching buildings sway from side to side.

Japanese people have annual drills for earthquake preparedness. School children and office workers know exactly what to do in case of emergencies, which is why you saw most of them not reacting too much in fear while the situation around them was absolutely terrifying. What will be on every news show tonight is going to be the headline, "are we prepared?" And it is a relevant question to ask.

Given our less than calm reaction to the earthquake in Toronto (my co-workers told me that our agency, which I wasn't working at during the earthquake had evacuated the building for the day), what do we need to know in case of an earthquake?

The Government of Canada actually has a page set up to answer your questions, here are some highlights:

- be prepared with an emergency kit with water, clothing and first aid materials in case you need to evacuate

- talk with your family on what you would do during an emergency (where to meet being an important topic)

- if you're indoors, stay indoors, and stay sheltered under sturdy furniture like a desk. Cover your head and torso from falling debris. Stay away from windows and objects that are not secured to the ground.

- if you're outdoors, stay outdoors and go to open areas as opposed to near buildings

- if you are in a vehicle, pull over in an open area to allow access to emergency vehicles. Avoid overpasses or bridges or any structure that could collapse, tune into a local radio station for instructions and warnings on the news

All of these preparations were certainly a part of the drills that the Japanese have been teaching their people every year since they were children - and this preparedness most definitely contributed to more lives not being lost.

Thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected in Japan.