November 3rd, 2004
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Where have you been? Are you okay?!
You may be wanting to ask me that since I commonly post three times a week. In fact, there’s a three in thirteen chance that you already have. Thank you.
Yes, I am alive, despite the earthquakes. The truth is they were pretty bad in Niigata, which is about a hundred and fifty miles to the northwest. Here we had some quick shaking several times over the past week, but no damage. Unfortunately most of the area near the epicenter is devastated.
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The earth torqued about like the hands on a clock.
Roughly 100,000 people are living in someplace other than their homes right now. That means tents or cars (the latter being far worse than you may imagine due to blood clots). It is currently estimated that forty percent of all the homes in the area will have to be rebuilt or worked upon before they are safe to live in again.
I am quite fortunate that nothing bad has happened where I live, not just because of the short-term ramifications but the after effects as well. It seems a good number of people in Niigata are experiencing considerable psychological damage and stress. Being in a situation where you nearly die isn’t just a shock, the memory of the experience can stay with you and cause physical harm for quite a while.
I personally am more brittle emotionally than most, so I think even just continued exposure to the frequent tremors here could get to me over time. On the other hand, I’m quite pragmatic (perhaps ignorant is a better word) about the whole thing and trying to maintain a sense of normalcy constructed from statistics and the chaos of the whole situation. I really can’t do much about it, so there’s no sense in worrying. Thanks to my job, chances are I will be inside and not alone when a major earthquake does occur, so at least I have an idea of what I _think_ may happen. And very few people that die due to the natural disaster perish during the actual earthquake itself, so I can build a false sense of security about the uncontrollable precipitating events. Anyway, like I said, no sense worrying, or really even talking about it. I’m fine.
As for those that are not, well, I guess I’d wish them some of my strength and optimism.
