Sendai in Japan is hit with a magnitude of 8.9 quake.  Nikko is not too far from it.  I am currently in Nikko…..stuck!

 

The station next to Sendai is the Toshugu Shrine station.  The latter is where Nikko is.

 

At 2:46 p.m., I was in the Nikko National Park and experienced first hand a strong quake.  At first, I thought I was seeing things and feeling things.  No!   Someone on the street said something in Japanese which I didn’t understand.  The only word I caught was New Zealand.  With some exchange in hand gestures, it confirmed that it was a serious earthquake which I experienced.

 

Check out the Internet to see the disaster in Sendai.  Houses and whole pieces of land were swept down the water.  Sendai is only about 2 or so hours’ drive away.

 

I did not stay in the Emergency Shelter….a school gym.  It was cold, very cold.  The police said no food would be provided.  So, I decided to return to my Minshu (Family Hostel) and stay with my friendly host who speaks English and who can tell me what to do in case of a strong quake.  There had been many quakes since.   All Ihope everything would be safe.

 

There is no time schedule as to when trains back to Tokyo will resume.  Fortunately, Nikko is 600 meter above SL, so the chance of being hit with a Tsunami would be slim.  But the quakes are serious. 

 

With 5 layers of clothes waiting for the train the whole day in the open air, I still felt cold.  It was freezing with the wind shield.  Snow started to fall again.  What a contrast to the fine weather of yesterday.  Now when I look up at the active volcano (just nearby), I don’t have a good feeling.

 

This earthquake is a historical one for Japan.  More quakes around the whole of Japan and more tsunami’s are expected.