WOKE UP, FROM A DREAM, OR MAYBE THE DREAM HAD WOKEN ME JUST BEFORE. THE WHOLE PLACE WAS SHAKING. CONTINUALLY SHAKING. THINGS DROPPING. RATTLING. FALLING. HITTING THE FLOOR. INSTINCTUALLY, THOUGH INSTINCT SEEMED TO TAKE A WHILE TO KICK IN, I JUMPED TO MY FEET. TOOK MY SURFBOARD FROM THE WALL ABOVE OUR BED AND LAY IN ON THE FLOOR. THE SHAKING CONTINUED. PRETTY SERIOUS SITUATION. I OPENED THE FRONT DOOR. ALTHOUGH IT WAS 2:30 IN THE MORNING IT WAS GLOWING SO BRIGHT. FULL MOON NIGHTS ON THIS ISLAND, WITH THE CLEAR AIR, ARE VERY BRIGHT. WHEN I LOOKED AT THE MOON THOUGH IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE, ONE MIGHT SAY MYSTERIOUS SIGHT. THERE WAS A DEEP ORANGE HALO AROUND IT. IF THE MOON WAS 3cm IN DIAMETER, THE HALO EXTENDED TO ABOUT 15CM. THE SHAKING STOPPED. SOMETHING LIKE TWENTY SECONDS HAD PAST. WE WERE FILLED WITH ANXIETY. JOLTED FROM SLEEP TO A POTENTIALLY APOCALYPTIC REALITY. THAT'S WHEN THE TSUNAMI SIREN SOUNDED. AND THE PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT. IN A NERVOUS JITTERING VOICE, LACED WITH FEAR OF UNEXPECTED DEVASTATING EVENTS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. THE VOICE WAS DIRECTING ALL PEOPLE LIVING AT LOW LEVEL TO EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUND. 'TIDAL WAVES OF AROUND 2m MAY HIT VERY SOON'. WE ARE LIVING MOUNTAIN SIDE SO FELT LITTLE FEAR OF THE WATER. THOUGH IMAGINATION SO QUICKLY BROUGHT IMAGES OF MANY OF THE ISLAND'S POPULATION, LIVING AT SEA LEVEL IN THE VILLAGE. WAKING PETRIFIED AND THEN AS QUICKLY AS WAKING, GETTING INTO CARS, OR ONTO BICYCLES, PERHAPS WITH FRIGHTENED YOUNGSTERS, HEADING TO HIGHER LAND.
Turns out it was a 7.4 magnitude quake. Tsunami waves hit but bringing no danger. Further quakes are still happening as I write this post, now 11am the next day.
Check : JAPANESE METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY
