Every day there is at least one if not multiple earthquakes somewhere in and around the country of Japan. The reason for that are the four tectonic plates that converge right underneath where the island is located, as well as the active volcanos all over. According to the JR Rail Pass website, which is a website mainly targetting foreign tourists to get informed about Japans railway system and special train ticket offers, Japan experiences about 1,500 earthquakes every year. (Referenced links will be at the end of this blogpost.)
For some reason, one of the most common arguments against moving to Japan I got and still get are earthquakes. It's also one of the most commonly asked questions by friends and family, as well as even strangers on the internet. Why would you willingly settle over to a country that has earthquakes, typhoons and tsunamis? Well, it's honestly all a matter of perspective in my opinion.
No doubt, it's super scary when an earthquake suddenly hits. No matter where you are at that specific moment, it's always a surprise - and an unwelcome one at that. With typhoons, you are somewhat able to ready yourself by taking certain measures, like closing all windows shut, securing them with duct tape from the inside as well as trying to declutter things that are outside of your home. Unfortunately however, no matter how much you prepare, if a typhoon decides to completely run rampant there is no amount of precaution that can really keep you safe.
Before the pandemic hit, Japans prefecture of Nagano was devastated by a typhoon that wasn't expected to cause as much damage as it did. Not only were complete harvests ruined, houses were also utterly destroyed by overflowing rivers. The injury and even death count were higher than anticipated. A little time after the event, my partner and I went to Nagano to help with cleaning up the mess that the typhoon had left behind and it was just heartwrenching to watch. What it did make me realize is that things like these can hit any place at any time and especially nowadays with climate change, I personally believe that nowhere is really "safe" in that regard.
Pictures were taken in Nagano prefecture, December 2019.
With earthquakes it's even more out of the blue. Two years after I came to Japan, in 2021, a somewhat large earthquake hit the area of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture and we felt it up to Tochigi prefecture, where I currently reside. Sendai is also known to be the largest city in all of the Northern peninsula of Tôhoku. This earthquake was said to be an after-quake of the disaster in 2011, where the reactors of Fukushima broke down. At that time, when it occured, experts already said that there will be after-quakes about 10 years later and they were almost exactly on point.
What was really devastating in 2011 however wasn't just the earthquake itself. It was actually a huge tsunami caused by said earthquake that damaged the Fukushima reactors. I personally have (luckily) never experienced a tsunami, so I can't really say a lot about them. Somehow, I think it's worth mentioning that tsunamis are always a knee-jerk reaction from an earthquake. My silly little self used to believe that typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis were separate occurences having nothing to do with each other. Now that I live here I know that typhoons and earthquakes aren't related, but tsunamis are usually always caused by earthquakes. If an earthquake, and especially a stronger one, hits an area somewhere out in the ocean, news outlets will immediately report the places endangered to possible tsunamis. Same with all natural disasters however, if and how people can evacuate is rarely something anyone can prepare for.
Warning: Please watch the following video at your own risk. It is a video recording of the earthquake and following tsunami on 11th of March 2011 of the perspective of someone who was right in the middle of it (I believe, media outlets are trained to turn on the camera as soon as they feel an earthquake coming as videos like this usually surface every time an earthquake hits). I watched this with earplugs in and it felt like being right there with them, which might be because I know how earthquakes feel, but the 2011 earthquake was really one of the most horrific ones that have ever hit Japan. Video recordings I've seen of other earthquakes have never been as bad as this one. Proceed with caution. (You don't have to watch it if you don't feel up to it. Just keep on scrolling and enjoy the rest of the blogposts. The video is pretty heavy.)
11th March 2011, Fukushima
Japanese government has special emergency warnings set in place that no matter where you're from or what kind of mobile network you're using, in case of disaster all mobile phones in the disaster area will go off, apparently even foreign ones. It's honestly a hair-raising sound that will most likely induce more panic in people prone to anxiety under stress (like me, tbh). The alarm is supposed to give anyone in the area of an earthquake that's about to hit approximately 5 to 10 seconds to evacuate. However, if you've never really undergone emergency training, it's easier said than done, especially if you don't really have a place to evacuate to. If possible, the first thing to do is hide underneath a table or something similar that could protect you from falling objects. Unsecured objects will fall and they will break - and even though there are precautions one can take to prepare for earthquakes, not too many people in Japan actually take said precautions. Usually only for the "more important things" like a TV or shelves. It's also advised to always have protective gear like helmets that should be worn in evacuation situations, but apart from my university dorm which provided said helmets for each student resident, I have never actually seen those in a Japanese home.
This is the sound all mobile phones will make in case of an emergency earthquake alert. Just looking this up for the blogpost made my skin crawl.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't scary when the earth beneath your feet starts to vibrate and you're quite unsure as to what is about to happen. Rather odd is the immediate reaction that happens amongst most Japanese people and those who have lived here for a while - sit still, raise your head, look around and assess the situation. Is it going to be over just as quickly as it started? Will this be a longer one? This is kind of a long one, but it doesn't feel like it's strong or getting stronger... while all of these thoughts run through your head, the earthquake will most likely already have come to an end. If not, it's advised to try and stay calm, which I find particularly hard. What is the right thing to do? Is it safer to stay inside and risk getting buried alive or run outside and risk getting hit by breaking or falling objects?
With every architectual structure that has been built after the historical Kanto earthquake of 1923, they have continuously improved regarding earthquake safety standards. That being said, I usually make sure to remind people of the force of nature - if it decides to take, even labelled "earthquake-safe" houses will probably not be left standing. In 2021, when we experienced that rather big after-quake, we were at our house which, after the power went out and a few objects fell down, began to sway from side to side. This was scary af, like being on a rollercoaster you don't want to be on. However, due to this construction within the fassade of the building, it's a lot safer than the often romanticized old Japanese houses. I know they are beautiful, but there are many reasons why they aren't constructed any more, earthquake safety being among the more important ones.
We were about to run outside when the earthquake came to an end. For some reason, since we were unsure what to do during a bigger earthquake, we thought it might make more sense to get out of the house. However, a gut feeling stopped both of us in our tracks - and I'm glad it did. Apparently, falling debris outside is a way bigger risk than just staying indoors. This is also why all of Japans cities have electrical wiring on the outside instead of underneath in the ground, like it is the case in Germany for example. Japan would risk even more cause for disasters if the wiring was underground. As earthquakes are very common, it's also a lot easier to repair minor damages for things that hang in the air than ones that need to be accessed from underground. The electrical wiring isn't beautiful, but it does serve a very important purpose.
If you are someone who already lives in an earthquake rich environment, Japan will probably not scare you as much. If you come from a country where there are almost no earthquakes whatsoever, like me growing up in Germany, earthquakes and other disasters are something to get used to. So why would I choose to live in a country that I know the dangers of?
That's probably exactly the reason why. Somehow, always being aware of the possibility that a natural disaster could strike at any time makes life so much more worth living. It might seem paradoxical, but I find it so inspiring to see Japanese people just go on with their everyday life. The students at Starbucks studying for their exams, the office workers enjoying their hearty lunch in a small café or the elderly people who hang out randomly in front of each others porches to chat. There certainly are people wanting to flee the country for various reasons, like the downward spiraling economy or terrible future prospects, but I have never heard someone say "I want to live abroad because Japan has too many earthquakes". It's just a part of everyday life. If an earthquake strikes, everyone who can help will help. People look out for each other in a way I have never experienced before, because in case of disaster you just never know what might happen.
I - and this is a very personal opinion, feel free to disagree with me - am way more afraid of people than I am of natural disasters. No doubt that the latter one is frightening, but the first one is even harder to anticipate. Just look at the war in Ukraine, terrorist attacks or school shootings. I find all of those atrocities, which are literally all created by people that seem to have very different values than me, so much scarier than the possibilities of dying in a sudden earthquake. If Mother Earth decides to take my life, I can somehow make peace with that, but if a crazy person with a gun shoots me because a "higher entitity told them to", it just feels like such an unfortunate way to go.
It also instilled an amount of respect for nature in myself that I never had back in Germany. Living everyday with the thought of "it could be over in an instant" makes me a lot more grateful for every day that I get to live on this earth, in this country. Whenever my mental health is declining, I try to remind myself of the mundane-ness of it all. Doing simple chores as well as important ones don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, I don't matter in the grand scheme of things. What does matter is what I make myself believe that matters.
Just a little while ago, I had an interaction with someone on Instagram who reacted (probably jokingly) with "how are you living the main character life?" to me saying I live in Japan. However, I personally don't think of myself as a main character. I am not living the main character life, if anything, I'd be priviliged if I got casted as a supporting role. The 30-year old German housewife, a two-time university dropout and due to all her mental health struggles unable to function like regular people do. But even if I am not the main character, I am the main character of my own life and what I choose to do with it are things that matter to me, even if they might not matter within the big picture. Earthquakes and other natural disasters help to keep me grounded in reality, down-to-earth and remind me that nothing I do, however big or small, will eventually matter. Even though this might sound like negative thinking to some people, as a realist, I personally get comfort out of these thoughts and they help me to put things into perspective.
This - or you know, something shorter along those lines - is normally what I answer people who raise concerns about earthquakes. Japanese people and their ancestors have been inhibiting this island for centuries, living alongside nature and all that comes with it. It's true that the younger generations - like everywhere in the world - have lost touch with nature much more than the older ones, which is something that Miyazaki Hayao often tries to emphasize with his Ghibli movies. Still, as long as the island of Japan exists, people will exist alongside all of the natural disasters and challenges that come with that - including myself.
Thank you for reading.
EFA
I'm really sorry for the delay and in turn, me being behind with all the letters. I know it's already G-Week, but I still hope someone will make time to catch up on reading my E-Week post. The other letters will soon follow, so please look forward to it!
Hope you liked this one too, even though it was a doozy.
Link to the JR Pass Website:
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