earthquake ^^;

Just a quick note cause I forgot to post about it yesterday, there was an earthquake in northern Japan yesterday around the city of Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture. The shocks reached all the way down beyond Tokyo. I was eating lunch around 11:45 and I felt it. It lasted for far longer than the earthquakes around here usually last - I'd say about 40 seconds. The news later said it was around 30 seconds in Sendai.

My uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins live in Sendai.

I emailed them yesterday right afterwards and got this back from my uncle today:

おじさんたちは大丈夫です。
ちょうどみえとしゅんえいは岩手のおばあさんの家に行く途中の新幹線の中でした。
古川駅で止まっていたのでおばさんがむかえにいきました。
仙台の家は、魚の水槽から水がこぼれていたり写真立てがたおれてわれたり
小さい本棚が倒れたりしていました。が大きい家具や本棚は倒れませんでした。

Basically it says everyone is ok, that my two cousins were on their way to their grandparents' house in Iwate when the earthquake struck, and they were stuck on the shinkansen for a while until the grandma came to get them. He says at the house in Sendai, the water in the aquarium slopped over the sides of the tank and some bookcases fell, but other than that no damage.

The news reports it was about a 4-5 in Tokyo and about a 7.2 in Sendai. It was definitely the longest quake I've ever been in, and I think anyone would be lying to say it wasn't at least a little frightening. Thankfully, everyone I know is ok. ^^;