All shook up

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In an age of unparalleled technological progress, many of us, particularly in the developed world, tend to get carried away with our achievements and idea of ourselves as Masters of the Universe. The South East Asian tsunami is a timely reminder of our vulnerability to the devastating forces of nature and of our own mortality. That tens of thousands of people going about their business can be reduced to a sea of rotting corpses and shattered lives in a matter minutes is enough to humble even the most staunch advocate of ‘man’s superiority over nature’ argument. For anyone who’s experienced any type of natural disaster the point is even more strongly driven home.

Only a week after returning to Japan I experienced an earthquake. It’s not the first time I’ve experienced one, I was in Japan when the Niigata earthquake struck last year and I can recall at least two other occasions earthquakes struck whilst I was in the country. According to the people who measure such things this one was only a mere 5.2 on the richter scale. Although it was a far cry from the force of Niigata last year, the close proximity to Tokyo meant I felt this quake more than any of the others I had experienced. I was woken, or more precisely shaken from my sleep at around 5:00 a.m. I quickly realised what was happening and climbed down the stairs from the loft where I was sleeping. By the time I had gotten myself underneath a door frame it had stopped.

I don’t want to overstate the severity of the quake and the danger it posed. Of course I couldn’t know it at the time but the worst case scenario for me was maybe a few bruises if I had fallen off the ladder. A few CD’s that had been precariously placed on top of the TV had toppled over. Outside there were no signs of damage and if it hadn’t been for a friend who mentioned it later that day I could almost have been convinced I had dreamt the whole episode. Almost, except for that lingering feeling of utter helplessness which took over in the few seconds it lasted - a feeling no doubt shared by the two DVD shop employees in the picture at the top of this article.