earthquake: ok!

there was an earthquake that caused a tsunami in japan and apparently parts of russia this evening.

nothing bad here. during my adult class, as the students were writing imaginary postcards to "Pat," an American friend, the citywide speaker system went off, and there was an announcement. it's cold out tonight, but so the students could hear the announcement (which, of course, was in Japanese), i opened the window. because of speaker location, there was a big echo, so it was difficult for them to understand, they said, but from what they understood there was a tsunami which would be about 5 centimeters that hit the Ishinomaki area about 8 p.m. (announcement came on between 10 and 5 minutes before 9 p.m.) later, shigeko said she talked to one of the students' parents, who reported that the news reported bigger waves were expected in Hokkaido (Japan's northern-most island), while 50-centimeter waves (later other people said 15 centimeters) waves were supposed to hit Ishinomaki.

in any case, things are fine here. i'm fine. didn't feel a shake or a thing. and my apartment is aways away from the ocean and river, plus on the second floor. here's hoping there are happy endings for places that saw a bigger impact.

tsunami warning on channel 1 during volleyball game. approx. 12:20 a.m. Nov. 16, 2006