Epicentre to my place: 1075km
I’d like to say thank you to all who have emailed to make sure that my family and I are safe. I thank you. We appreciate it a lot. Luckily, the quake had no direct effect on us, as we live a good thousand kilometres from the location of the quake, tsunami, and reactor. To put that distance in a Canadian context, it’s about the same as a flight from Toronto to Fredericton.
To be sure, it was a massive quake, and caused a remarkable amount of damage. As terrible an event as it was, however, I have to say that it probably would have been several times worse had this event happened in any other country. The Japanese quake predictor system sent out a message one minute before the main quake, and I can only assume that that helped many people prepare even slightly. Architecture in Japan is also designed with earthquakes in mind. And while the old wooden structures of Sendai were no match for the tsunami, all the buildings of Tokyo held up exceptionally well.
Beyond this technology, though, is the sheer calm of the Japanese people. It was remarkable to watch the events on TV of people walking calmly to shelters, or waiting patiently for the few buses that were running. No rioting, no looting, no fighting for places. A true testament of oneness… we are all in the together.
The Canadian Embassy has done a great job of sending out emails regarding the quake, evacuation and reactor to those of us registered, but I found this article a little surprising and disheartening. It estimates that there are about 12,000 Canadians in Japan, yet only 1773 are registered with the embassy. I registered when I first moved here, and can’t recommend it enough. If you live abroad and haven’t done so already, here is the link to register.
Again, thanks for your thoughts everyone.
In Search of Salt 
Glad to hear you’re doing well and are not very close to the multiple disasters northern Japan is dealing with.
Thanks a lot, Tom.
Yes, we are certainly lucky down here for many reasons.
I appreciate your comment.