we just had a 4 person meeting in the hall outside.

me: wha!!!! it's still going!!!!
fern: crazy, it just hit BAM from out of nowhere!!!
dave: yeah, i think that one even messed my hair
tim: (poking his head out the door): i can tell my friends to cool it if you want.....

very. big. earthquake. the house shuddered and swayed and the powerlines outside were dancing.

but it was bigger somewhere else, and i would have hated to be there. will update with some links when i can.

11.44pm

UPDATED: Courtesy of Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale jolted eastern Japan including Tokyo on Wednesday evening, but there was no danger of tsunami tidal waves, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage and Kyodo news agency quoted the Tokyo fire department as saying that there was no damage or injuries in the nation's capital. The focus of the quake was about 40 miles below the earth's surface in Ibaraki northeast of Tokyo, the agency added. Public broadcaster NHK said there appeared to be no damage to facilities at Narita International airport near Tokyo but added that airport authorities were inspecting the two runways there. Train and subway services in Tokyo were halted temporarily due to the quake, NHK said. Some services were soon resumed following safety checks, it added. An NHK staffer in Mito, northeast of Tokyo, said buildings shook from side to side for about 30 seconds. NHK also said that a nuclear plant in Tokaimura about 50 miles northeast of Tokyo was operating normally. Japan is one of the world's most seismically active areas, with an earthquake occurring every five minutes. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude six or greater. Memories are still vivid of the earthquake in the western city of Kobe which killed more than 6,400 people in 1995. That quake measured 7.2 on the Richter scale.

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