Cogitare

I was on the 9th (top) floor of recently built, thin (30’ square) and very flexible apartment building in Sumida, Tokyo. Living here has been a little unsettling as even small vibrations — a large truck passing by, for example — tend to set the structure quivering. Now I appreciate its amazing engineering. It flexed and bounced like an airliner in turbulence.

The shaking went on for so long that I had ample time to get up, put my shoes on and go out onto the emergency stairs. The neighborhood — largely 3-15 story buildings — looked like a set of children’s blocks teetering on a shaken table. It looked more dreamlike than scary. Each building is topped with a lightning rod; they became metronomes swaying in competing directions. Old women moved to the middle of the street and stood motionless, looking at each other. After what must have been 2 or 3 minutes, the neighborhood public address system came online with a cheerful, slightly inappropriate recorded message: “This is Sumida City. Just now, a large earthquake happened. Please be careful.”

It was only when I turned on the television and saw live footage of a tsunami closing in on cars driving down the road that I understood the severity of what happened.

Three hours later, things continue to rock every few minutes.