Two earthquakes in 12 hours.

Yesterday afternoon everything in my office trembled then lept up as if frightened. Things quickly settled back down except for me. I logged into the Tenki quake page to see what I’d just experienced.

8-14, 16:33

Magnitude: 4.3

Location: Northwestern Chiba Prefecture

So not a big earthquake, but nearby. Chiba is Tokyo’s eastern neighbor.

At 3:55 this moring, I was shaken awake. In my groggy state, it felt like another vertical movement of about the same intensity as the afternoon quake. Since it stopped quickly, I went back to sleep and checked Tenki in the morning.

8-15, 3:55
Magnitude: 4.3
Location: Southern Ibaraki Prefecture

Once again, pretty small but close. Ibaraki is Tokyo’s northern neighbor.

Perhaps there will be one to the west today. There have been earthquakes to our south for weeks; the Izu islands have an active volcano at the moment.

Earthquakes all around Tokyo are good, I have to remind myself. If the pressure is released in small bits, there’s less chance for the “Big One” which is so long overdue. Still, it makes me think this would be a good time to take a holiday from the city… Posted by kuri at August 15, 2000 06:50 AM