23.34 on Wednesday and we were violently shaken awake. The building was swaying backwards & forwards and our choice to live on 21st floor looked questionable. Geoff remained sat up in bed (thinking he said) whilst I walked around the apartment (investigating I said) but the reality is we were not earthquake ready. Neither of us got dressed or moved to the door … but we have agreed that we need a plan.

Walking down the corridor to the lounge was like trying to walk around a ship in a stormy sea and I was grateful that I had walls to steady myself. Hangings on the wall were swinging like pendulums and the banging was heavy sliding doors on a wardrobe in a back bedroom moving from side to side. And then it all stopped. Phew.

Thank goodness for architects and builders making our buildings earthquake-proof … I promise not to moan about the lack of double glazing & decent insulation.

Ironically this happened a few days after the 11th anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami when thousands of people lost their lives. Wednesday’s earthquake is the largest since 2011 and there were three deaths and more than 190 people injured. Sad for all those affected but such a relief that it wasn’t a repeat of 2011.

Japan doesn’t use the Richter scale , but the Shindo scale that measures the degree of shaking in an earthquake. The scale runs from 0 to 7 so Wednesday’s quake was a biggie!

The above is a photograph from TV … by 09.42 the following day repairs to a major highway are well under way. Impressive!

On Thursday I had lunch with two women who were living in Tokyo during the 2011 quake and it’s aftermath. Such a difficult time with water, power, transport and food supplies all greatly affected.

Big thanks to all those who messaged us to check we were OK.

Now, back to our planning ……