On August 8^th 2008 a magnitude 4.5 earthquake hit Tokyo and Kanagawa prefecture at 12:57PM. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Japan's Meteorological Agency said the earthquake struck the Tama area of western Tokyo and that there was no danger of tsunamis from the quake. According to NHK Japan’s national broadcaster several trains halted briefly after it hit. A magnitude 4 earthquake can cause moderate damage to buildings.

In my time in Japan I’ve experienced several earthquakes, but this was the first one while inside a skyscraper. First the earthquake hit giving the building a strong jolt shaking all the equipment around me. When an earthquake hits you realize you are essentially powerless and all you can do is ride it out. The swaying of the building subsided after an uncomfortable minute or two. If there is no announcement from facility management to vacate the premises everyone goes back to work like nothing happened. I guess to the Japanese earthquakes are like cold weather to a Canadian. Nothing special. Despite having television news feeds from multiple sources all around me there was no warning what so ever.

This experience prompted me to do research in to what kind of Earthquake Warning System Japan has. By chance on October 1^st 2007 the Japan Meteorological Agency had implemented the Earthquake Early Warning System or Kinkyu Jishin Sokuho in Japanese. The Earthquake Early Warning system provides advance announcement through media such as television and radio. Information such as estimated intensity and expected arrival time of the earthquake is provided. Whether today’s earthquake was too small to initiate a warning from the system I’m not sure. Even if a warning is generated it appears you only have seconds to do anything. In the future I wonder if the warning system will save us if “The Big One” were to hit.