Mother Earth was my alarm clock this morning: CNN.com - Strong quake?rocks Tokyo - Apr 10, 2005. It's always more than a little startling to be jarred awake by a bouncing apartment... the sound of my windows rattling together really gets my heart pounding. This morning's quake was apparently only a 3 on the Japanese scale (which only goes up to 7, as opposed to the Richter scale that goes up to 10), but the epicenter was very near- close to Narita Airport. I'm guessing it had to have been a strong 3- closer to 4. Needless to say, I was up and out of my futon very quickly. The quake was long enough for me to get to my veranda and stand there in my pajamas until things stopped moving. As soon as I turned the TV on (again, from my veranda) and was assured everyone was still (more or less) standing... I managed to go back to sleep for another half hour. ;) !

There was another quake this afternoon while we were at school. Since they keep telling us there's going to be a big one anytime... each little shiver triggers a bit of panic. I'm glad we're still in one peice!!