Magnitude 9.9 at the Mampei Hotel in Karuizawa

 

A peaceful afternoon at the historic Mampei Hotel in Karuizawa took an unexpected turn when our smartphones suddenly sounded an earthquake alert. A magnitude 9.9 earthquake, with strong shaking expected in just three minutes? We found ourselves counting down, wondering what to do.

Another beautiful sunny day in Karuizawa. In fact, it seems that the whole of Japan was blessed with fine weather today, which is certainly something to be thankful for.

After checking out of our hotel, we took Anne to the dog park and let her run around to her heart's content. Then we headed to Old Karuizawa.

Our destination was the Mampei Hotel, one of my wife's favorite places.

We were relaxing on the terrace, where dogs are welcome, when suddenly an earthquake warning sounded on my smartphone.

Everyone else's phones around us went off at the same time.

"Hey, it says magnitude 9.9! The earthquake is in the Kuril Islands, and the shaking is supposed to reach us in three minutes!"

Japan has an Earthquake Early Warning system that alerts people before strong shaking arrives. But a magnitude of 9.9? That would be beyond anything ever recorded.

　　　

 

So, what should we do?

We were sitting outside on the terrace. Should we stay where we were, or crawl under the table?

While I was thinking about it, the countdown reached two minutes.

Hmm. What to do?

My wife suggested moving away from the building because she was worried about the hotel's eaves.

I thought that, since we were so far from the epicenter, the shaking probably wouldn't be all that strong. So I stayed where I was.

Before I knew it, there was only one minute left.

If the shaking started, I would get under the table.

Perhaps I could first see how strong it was by watching the lampshades inside the hotel. There should be enough time to decide what to do after that.

With these thoughts running through my mind, I waited for the shaking to begin.

But nothing happened.

"That's strange. It's not shaking at all. Maybe it wasn't such a big earthquake after all?"

Just as we were saying that, a second warning sounded.

An aftershock?

Then, before long, we heard that the Japan Meteorological Agency had canceled the warning.

Hmm.

The agency apparently says it wasn't a cyberattack, but I certainly hope that was the case.

A magnitude 9.9 earthquake that never came. Quite an unexpected experience during what was supposed to be a peaceful afternoon at the Mampei Hotel.

 

・・・

• Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) — 緊急地震速報。日本で地震の強い揺れが到達する前に発表される警報。

• Kuril Islands — 千島列島。北海道の北東からカムチャツカ半島にかけて連なる島々。

• Epicenter — 震央。地震の震源の真上にあたる地表の地点。

• Eaves — 軒、ひさし。建物の屋根が外壁より外側に張り出した部分。

• To her heart's content — 思う存分、満足するまで。

• Aftershock — 余震。大きな地震の後に発生する地震。

• Cyberattack — サイバー攻撃。コンピューターシステムやネットワークに対する悪意のある攻撃。

• Before I knew it — 気がつけば、いつの間にか。

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