The Earth Moved and the Water Washed Away

I'm saddened by the events that took place in Japan. An 8.9 earthquake and then a tsunami just a few minutes later while the terror was still pulsing through their veins. What a double finger flick from Mother Nature. As I watch the videos of the earthquake I can feel a rush of fear in my chest as I remember with clarity the seven pointer that I experienced in Guam. It started out gentle rolling and then all of a sudden BOOM! I can only think that it would be like being in a box, set on a nervous giant's knee. It wasn't nearly as devastating (only a lamp fell over), but it lasted for over a minute and every time you thought it was getting ready to taper off and stop it would suddenly start up again and shake even more violently then the last bit. I remember actually saying "Please stop, please stop, please stop" over and over again as it continued because you just didn't know how bad it was going to get the longer it lasted. It's a complete sensory overload because it throws you off balance and the noise is buffering you and it's scary wondering if the next big rattle is going to bring something down on you. There is absolutely nothing you can do, but hold on and pray you're not unlucky. That particular earthquake woke my kids in the dead of night. I could go in their room right now and send a parade through and they wouldn't wake. But as I said before it's more than just one thing with an earthquake. I still get nervous any time it feels like something might be moving even a little even though I live on the East Coast of the US where we don't get earthquakes (I know it's possible because of a fault line that runs close to here, but not common). You do get used to them after a time and the little ones don't even cause a blink in your day, but those that last a good long while ..... you don't forget those. A minute seems like five. I've heard the one in Japan lasted about three minutes. That must have felt like an eternity and that wasn't even the worst of what was to come for some areas. Then to make matters worse, you're keyed up from the initial earthquake and then you have to deal with after shocks. I'll take a hurricane over that any day. At least I have plenty of time to get the heck out of the way in that case and can avoid it all together. I'm praying the death count doesn't climb much higher and that nothing else smacks them around while they're trying to recover from this. I hope every one else out there is praying for Japan as well.