It's the end of the world as we know it...

The past few days here in Okinawa have been what I would call disaster centric. Yesterday at 5:30 am we were shaken awake by a 7.0 earthquake and today we were evacuated for a tsunami caused by another earthquake half way across the world. I suppose if either of these disasters were to have happened anywhere but here there probably would have been widespread panic and looting. But here in Okinawa it was business as usual. There has been no reported structural damage from the earthquake. I've never been in an earthquake so strong, yet nothing was disturbed in our house. The only thing to fall was Gabriella's toothpaste into the sink, and that could have happened without the earthquake. In fact while Greg and I were finding doorways to stand in, Gabriella was fast asleep in her bed. She never fully woke up. I stood in her doorway holding on to her bed and keeping an eye on her in case she needed to be rescued. When I woke her up for ballet later in the morning she told me that daddy had shaken her bed to try to wake her up. When I informed her that it was an earthquake she seemed suspicious but eventually let daddy off the hook for the early wake up shake.

The tsunami warning came this morning after Chile's earthquake. The warning was issued at 10 am for a possible tsunami at 3:10 pm. I thought the precise time given was a rather nice touch. The base wide announcement also told us to listen to AFN radio for updated information. Well no further information was given until 1:30 or so when the alert was sent out that people needed to evacuate from low lying areas of the base, specifically those living below the 30 foot level. So those living in the Old Lester housing area were mandated to evacuate. We were planning to barbeque brawts for lunch and of course we didn't have any rolls, so I ran out to the grocery store to get some. Before I left the base I was aware of the possibility of evacuation but in all honesty I didn't think it was a high possibility. Our house is located 37 feet above sea level so I assumed we'd be ok. I got back from my leisurely trip to the Kadena commissary and JA market and was welcomed in the gate without any indication that a massive base wide evacuation was underway. When I turned the corner into our housing area there were about 20 marines hurrying door to door announcing the evacuation. Everyone was advised to get to higher ground on either Camp Foster or Camp Butler. I informed Greg of the impending evacuation and we piled into the car and headed up the hill to the highest housing on Camp Lester. There we sat outside enjoying the beautiful view and watching for the tsunami. We did see a few waves in the harbor but none seemed to be any larger than normal. Finally 2 hours after the evacuation order was given we returned home, an hour later the all clear was given. We celebrated our tsunami survival by having an impromptu bbq at our house inviting our friends to come over. This weekend was seismically crazy but we survived. I hope next weekend isn't this exciting.