Since we were excited/nervous about our trip back to the US, we were both inadvertently awake ahead of the alarm clock which was scheduled to ring at 6:30am. This was good since the earthquake struck at 6:26am. If we weren't awake, we probably would have missed it.
Other than being an earthquake, it was not noteworthy and thankfully only measured a 3.8 on the Richter scale. In fact, at first, Chris was convinced that the rumbling was caused by a truck driving by. Because of the simulations during my field trip to the disaster center I was pretty sure it was an earthquake. We stood in a door frame and in about 10 seconds, the whole thing was over. In the end, all that happened was that one more thing got checked off our "things to experience in Japan" list. Talk about down to the wire... almost missed this one. Whew! :)
The online news article from the Mainichi Daily News was taken down quickly in favor of more recent news, but here is the text, if you'd like to read it.
A moderate earthquake jolted Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo Prefectures early Wednesday morning, the Meteorological Agency said. There was no report of casualties or damage to property. No tsunami warning was issued following the quake.
The temblor that struck at 6:26 a.m. registered 3 on the 7-point Japanese intensity scale in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, and Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture. It also measured 2 on the Japanese scale in extensive areas of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures. The focus of the earthquake, which is estimated at 3.8 on the open-ended Richter scale, was located about 20 kilometers below the ground in southeastern Hyogo Prefecture.
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