14. Januar 2009 | 
Autor: Wednesday, 15:15. Just experienced yet another earthquake shake. Interesting how everybody here in the office still hold their breaths, even though we all have felt so many already during our time here in Japan. Well, I have to say, I am sitting here on the 26th floor of a high-rise office tower. I guess everybody here is aware of the fact that, in case the “Big One” is really hitting Tokyo, there is not much you can do apart from praying, 100m above solid ground. In such case even the helmets won’t do much of help: “You know, everyone else in here has a helmet under their desk in case floors 27-31 fall on us. Three years ago our instructions during the earthquake preparedness drill were „stay inside, don’t look out of the window and pretend you’re not here“. I suspect not much has changed.” (my colleague).
A recently read prediction for 2009: Earthquake Hits Tokyo
When our preceding parent, LINC Computer, started publishing the Computing Japan magazine back in June of 1994, the editors interviewed a number of Todai and Tsukuba University experts who told them that Tokyo was overdue for the „Big One“. They named several cycles of trigger mechanisms that are thought to cause major earthquakes in Tokyo. Now, 15 years later, we are more than 20% overdue for one particular trigger which occurs in Shizuoka, and thus the risk of the Big One striking increases. Although this is one prediction we hope will never come true, at least your company and family should be practicing risk management by ensuring that you are housed in a safely constructed building, that everyone knows what to do when the chaos of a major earthquake hits, and that there is a continuity plan.
A good year to be in Japan?