Earthquake!

Who would have thought I would get to experience not one, not two, but three earthquakes in the 5 days I spent in Kumamoto, Japan. I should really say two earthquakes because I didn’t really felt the third earthquake.

The first happened on March 16 as I was sitting in bed, doing my daily Duolingo Japanese lessons. The room suddenly felt like it was rocking and the bed felt like it was swaying left to right. It only lasted a few seconds. I thought I’ve gone insane there for a moment. I asked my mom but she was oblivious. It took a Google search to confirm my suspicion, that it was a 3.2 magnitude quake.

I was peacefully sleeping when my mom woke me up at around 5 AM this morning. It’s March 18, the day when we’re returning to Taiwan, finally back to a place when I can communicate with people and not be a mute. “Yinglan!” She called my name. “Earthquake.”

My senses were suddenly on high alert as I felt the bed swaying, more so than the last one on 3/16. It also lasted longer. It honestly felt like it lasted an eternity before the swaying stopped. When it finally stopped, I checked my phone and found an emergency alert flashing on the screen. It told me to seek shelter.

I’m not new to earthquakes. After all, I experienced the 5.7 quake in Salt Lake City in March 2020 that sent everyone packing and kick-started working from home. Also, I was partially raised in the Los Angeles area and frequently had earthquakes drills in schools.

That morning, seeking shelter was not possible because 1. I was half-asleep, 2. I felt like I was pinned to the bed as it swayed, and 3. it was too late by the time I was able to seek shelter.

What a great way to start the day!

Later, as I am writing this post, I did a quick search and found out after the 4.8 quake I felt, there were 3 more quakes throughout the day – 5:47 AM (3.7 magnitude), 12:58 PM (3.2), and 5:28 PM (3.7). I did not feel any of those.

So Kumamoto is a place that has frequent (quite) earthquakes and frequent changing of weather. Within an hour of taking the photo at the top of this post, dark clouds rolled into the sky and rain poured like a bucket of water.

With our luggage safely stored at the hotel, we ventured toward the shopping district to get some last-minutes gifts and souvenirs. Then, it was another meal at the food court before heading back to the hotel to pick up the luggage and head for the airport.

I’m now once again in Taipei and will be exploring more of this delicious place in the next 3 days.