Earthquake

 I know that Japan is one of the most seismic active countries in the world. 

I know that scientists have been warning about the possibility of a Nankai Trough earthquake for many years!

The Nankai Trough is an oceanic trough running along the Pacific Coast of Japan. It's where the Philippians Plate and the Eurasian Plates meet. Nankai Trough earthquakes occur every 100 to 150 years. The last two were in 1945 and 1946.  The areas around this trough have become a lot more active in the past few years, scientists say that there is a possibility of a major quake within the next 30 years.

Last August there was an earthquake near the trough which triggered an advisory for people who live in the area that would be most affected by a strong earthquake and the tsunami that would follow. This is the first time such an advisory had been issued.

I also know what to do in an earthquake. If possible turn off the gas and try to get to a safe place, away from furniture that could fall on you, under a sturdy table or in the door way.

With all this knowledge I should be able to deal with earthquakes but of course I don't!

Last night was weird. I was sitting in bed trying to decide whether to watch TV or read my book. As I was sitting there my bed started to shake. At first I thought it was just the bed, the screws need tightening up!  But it felt very strange, so I went out into the corridor where I could see the lights swinging and one of the cats just standing with it ears down. I went to David's room, met up with the other kids, we all said "Earthquake". The strange thing was our phone alarms didn't sound.  

In Japan there is a system set up where phones will sound an alarm if an earthquake is detected. I don't like the sound of the alarm going off, as the phone just shouts "Earthquake, earthquake!" but no other information such as where the epicenter is or how strong the quake is.  Even with the smallest quakes the alarms go off but yesterday it didn't. Hannah said that on her social media a lot of people were commenting on this so it wasn't just our phones!

Again I panicked. It's like my brain goes white and I have no idea what to do. My kids were all calm, they just checked to see where it was.  Me, I just stood in the cold corridor with the deer in the headlights look on my face!

Part of my worry is this house is not a new build, I've noticed cracks in the foundation and on some of the external walls.  I need to go and see if these cracks are worse or if there are any new ones!

Earlier in the evening David was playing with blue angel key ring holder I had bought him.

This tickled me!