Earthquake? Earthquake!!!

Well, after almost nine weeks here in Japan, we experienced our first earthquake...a 7.1 in magnitude, that subsided to 3.0 by the time it rippled to Yokosuka. It was a few minutes before 8:00 pm and I was getting ready to put Abby to bed when I began to feel some swaying/trembling. I sat real still for a few seconds thinking I was just feeling nauseous, and then realized that I was experiencing my first earthquake. After I fought the urge to "stop drop 'n roll" I quickly made my way to the nearest door jam. I called out to Ryan and he and Kaylee were making their way to same door jam. We all stood there (well Abby was being held) and did a group impression of three people nervously riding a surfing simulator. Not to say that the quake was rolling the room like the ocean tide, but we weren't sure how steady to keep ourselves and thought that a wide-stance surfing pose assisted the most with the balancing effort. After what seemed like 15 minutes of waiting in silence (as though we were expecting the earth to announce the quake was over), we slowly made our collective way over to our hotel hallway. We saw one woman, with her kids in toe, briskly making her way to the hotel exit mumbling something like, "...just in case this thing's not over," and a few other patrons poking their heads out of their rooms to compare notes and make conversation. After talking with one woman who was on her 2nd tour to Yokosuka, we felt much better to learn that what we had just lived through was a "bad one." I guess that means that we can expect most of the others to not be that bad. As for my thoughts about the experience, the 45 seconds made my legs feel like Jello and it took a few minutes for the feeling of the room still moving to subside; but the worst part is the psychological effect...it may have been a cool feeling if it were a ride at an amusement park, but there's something unsettling about the ground moving underneath you like that. To know that the earth we rely on for stability is failing us can be a little scary. So as much as I hope to never write about this experience again, stay tuned for the sequel.