My first earthquake experience

I attended a JICA training course on wetlands and migratory birds in Japan way back in 1994 (picture below). It was a 6 weeks course on wetlands and migratory birds conservation. Not sure whether JICA is still organizing the course now, but if they still organize it, do make it a point to attend the course. This is for Rahmah and gang who are involved in migratory birds studies. You'll get to see how the Japanese scientists are doing their work especially their dedication. Not forgetting the local community involvement in conservation. Above all, you get the opportunity to travel around Japan. I've been to Japan for quite a number of times over the years, mostly to attend conferences and meetings on wetlands. And I enjoyed every single trip. The people are friendly and warm. Anyway, it was during the course that I experienced my first earthquake...real earthquake. The second one was in Taiwan. Hokkaido experiences tremors every now and then. The port in Kushiro has a wall which will close in the event of an earthquake to prevent Tsunami from hitting the city.
I was resting in my hotel room watching TV when I started feeling slight tremors in the room. I thought it was normal but the tremors started getting stronger until I feel the whole room shaking. When I looked outside my window I saw the TV antennae on the building opposite my room shaking vigorously. The hotel was shaking badly and all my things on the dressing table started falling to the floor. I crawled and sit under the dressing table for safety until the tremors subsided. For your information, all hotels in Japan has a notice on what to do in the event of an earthquake. Even if you don't understand Japanese, just study the diagram and follow the instructions. Unlike in Korea, the hotel room that I stayed has a gas mask and a rope for you to climb down from the window. There is also a notice which started with " Due to the close proximity of our hostile neighbour......". During the tremors, an announcement (in Japanese) was aired. Later I found out that the announcer asked all hotel guests to stay calm and stay in their room until the tremors stopped. The elevator will stop at the nearest floor and will open automatically to let the guests out. There are several "safe locations" on each floor that you can seek shelter should you not able to get into your room. After the worst was over, our course interpreter went to each of us to make sure that everyone was okay. So, this is how an earthquake feels, I told myself. Later I found out that the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.4 in Kushiro. All TV channels showed emergency program, only announcements and a map showing the magnitude of the earthquake in various locations on the island. The wall around Kushiro port was closed until the tremors were over. The hotel that I stayed in Kushiro was still in one piece, no cracks at all. Only the ground around it cracked, forcing the management to put a plank to enable guests to go out of the hotel. After a couple of days, the cracks around the hotel were repaired and no sign of earthquake was evidenced. ....We continued staying in the hotel until the end of the course. Everything is back to normal. Apparently, my hotel was constructed with a huge absorber to withstand strong tremors. Later in the week, during our trip to places outside the city, we witnessed destructions of roads and railway tracks. In some places, you can even get into the cracks (picture). But I supposed earthquakes are normal in Japan and the people are used to this unlike us in Malaysia. A slight tremor can create panic. So, if you want to experience real earthquake go to Japan, Taiwan, Philippines or Indonesia ( I recommend Japan because their buildings are much safer compared to Philippines or Indonesia). It's a good experience, make you appreciate life and humble (if you survive the earthquake). Cheerio