Another first

I was deeply engrossed in producing an interview about an IPO in Hong Kong (ok, so maybe "deeply engrossed" is pushing it a bit) when Ed II suddenly looked up from his computer. "Did you feel that?"

I clicked on the pause button on the video player, looked up at him and frowned. It was Umi no Hi, or Sea Day, a national holiday in Japan, and we had a full load of work with a skeleton team of two producers and one editor. I was geared up to be a production machine and wasn't in the mood for interruptions. "Feel what?"

"That's an earthquake," he replied calmly, grinning widely at being the one to enlighten -- and shock -- the novice.

"What? Really?" I ripped off my headphones, and channeled all my energy into feeling whatever he had felt. Nothing. I was just about to pooh pooh his claim and dismiss the silliness of calling a barely-felt tremor an earthquake when suddenly, I felt myself sway.

I gaped at him. "Oh my gosh!" I rushed to the window, a little wobbly on my feet, as if I was on a boat on a somewhat turbulent sea. Not too shaky, but definitely not firm. And then it stopped. Outside, people on the street 21 floors below looked like multicoloured bugs, enjoying the day off and the atypical bright blue sky and warm sunshine. Nothing seemed amiss. I would have thought I had imagined it, if not for Ed II.

Still in shock, I was walking back to my desk when the building began to sway again. This was definitely disconcerting, this enormous 50-floor mass of concrete, metal and glass moving as if it was a mere twig on a tree branch. I sank into my chair still in shock, just as the headline flashed: "Earthquake shakes buildings in Central Tokyo" -- there's certainly nothing like experiencing the news as it happens.

Over the next few minutes, more headlines moved: "Earthquake is centered near Noto Peninsula on Japan Sea" and "Earthquake near Niigata, Japan, has magnitute of 6.6, NHK says." Niigata is nowhere near Tokyo, which made the fact that we had felt it here all the more irksome. I couldn't imagine the people in Niigata.

More stories came up over the next few hours, including one about a fire at a nuclear power plant in Niigata, and reports of between two and four deaths caused by the quake.

And then it was back to life as usual, at least in Tokyo. Which fits in with the general view of earthquakes here. When I first moved here, I was shocked and a little disturbed by how matter-of-fact people here are about the possibility of one happening. Relocation and real estate agents calmly advise new-comers to arrange furniture in a way that ensures safe exit -- and avoids squashage -- during an earthquake. Instructions from the gas company guy about what to do with your appliances during an earthquake are part of the service. Each ward has earthquake emergency procedures in place and designated evacuation sites. Not really surprising for one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. But not especially comforting either -- preparedness has its benefits, but it is also a constant reminder that one could happen at any time.

And now that I think about it, I really don't know what to do or where to go in an earthquake. That might be a problem. Particularly since Ed II just informed me that Tokyo itself is about 20 years overdue for the mother of all quakes.