Last day in Tokyo. Laying in bed this morning and hear commotion in the hall. Sounds like a room service cart is careening through the hallway. Then I realize I’m vaguely giddy. Then I hear my bathroom door slamming back-and-forth. Then I realize, “oooh, an earthquake.”

I hung around the room for a while. I was on the 49th floor of the Ritz Carlton — a thoroughly modern building, so it is well-built against these things. After a while though, I thought, “screw this; just walk outside and get a coffee anyway.”

I packed up my newspaper and sunglasses and went out to the lift. An American women joined me. She had the look of serious grippedness. As the lift goes down I small-talker her, “were you shaken awake too?” “Yes,” she said, “what’s going on?” “It’s an earthquake,” I answered, and at this point the filial son in me broke out, and I started laughing hysterically. What the hell did she think it was? I don’t think my eye-watering laughter made her feel especially comforted, but I couldn’t help myself. She says, “why are you laughing?” All I could say was, “nothing to be done about it–go downstairs and have a coffee.”

This is my second noticeable earthquake in Tokyo. Each time I am surprised by how it lasts much longer than I’d expect, and it’s much more of a vague swaying/falling feeling than any kind of industrial shaking or vibration.

UPDATE:  Here’s a brief and bad capture I took with my camera.  For a moment when i pan to the window, you can sort of make out the swaying.   I have no idea what the terrible noise on the audio is.

Strong earthquake hits Japan

6 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) — A powerful earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck northern Japan Saturday, the meteorological agency said.

The earthquake hit in Iwate prefecture, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of Tokyo, and rattled buildings in the capital.

Television footage showed buildings also shaking in northern cities of Japan. Bullet trains were automatically shut down as a precaution.

The quake had a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), the agency said.

There was no immediate word on potential damage or casualties, and the agency did not issue a tsunami warning.

A new earthquake warning system kicked in for the quake, with public broadcaster NHK flashing an alert moments before it struck.

Japan endures some 20 percent of the world’s powerful earthquakes. It has built an infrastructure intended to withstand tremors.

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