On Earthquakes

Sometimes when we're in Texas we have a Japanese friend or relative call to check on us saying something like, "I heard there was a tornado in Texas." Well, Texas is big, and has lots of tornadoes; the likelihood any particular one hits me is pretty low. But you don't necessarily know all that when you live elsewhere and have never been to Texas.

Similar with the earthquake. Looks like a pretty good shake, tragic for a few people, and very traumatic for a good many others. But very far from Tokyo. It's true Japan is not as large as Texas, but it is about as large as California, and it's something like San Francisco to San Diego in this case.

Having had a good number of meetings with the US during the Japanese nighttime in the days prior, I was asleep when the quake hit. My wife, who was awake, said she'd felt a slight shake in Tokyo a couple hours before. It's possible that was a slight tremor here, they're common, but unlikely it had anything to do with the quake down south. She said she felt nothing at all near the time news of the quake erupted on TV, which is what I'd have expected.

Anyway, thanks for your concern. The people in Kumamoto can use all the positive energy you can send their way. Bad as it was, I think back about some of the bigger ones, and feel grateful this one's not as bad as they can be.