When the next big one hits, I’ll know about it before the earth starts shaking. A cute little frog will appear on my computer screen accompanied by what sounds like a toy piano arpeggio.
Although seemingly cuddly, this frog is very sinister—it tells me that an earthquake is coming, how big it’s going to be, and whether or not I should get outside fast.
The frog and its piano chords are part of an earthquake warning system software program called SignalNow Express. A dialog box opens that shows a map of eastern Japan. At the earthquake’s epicenter is a circle that grows gradually as it spreads out. At the top of the box, it tells me the seismic intensity (震度, shindo), and when it’ll hit my house.
As far as I know, SignalNow Express is Japan’s most popular earthquake warning software. It uses Japan’s 緊急地震情報 (kinkyūjishinjōhō, Earthquake Early Warning). This is a system where seismic activity is detected by the 気象庁 (kishōchō, Japan Meteorological Agency) using seismometers that are placed throughout the country. This is the same system that reports earthquake activity in real-time on NHK.
An earthquake wants to speak to you
There’s also an earthquake warning system on cellphones. Since 2007, all three of Japan’s phone carriers—NTT Docomo, Softbank, and AU—issue warnings. Most models have warnings by default. My cellphone doesn’t because it’s ancient. But no matter where you are, you can always hear somebody else’s.
I remember one day last year, sitting on a train that was about to leave Chiba Station and hearing several people’s alarms go off. Everybody suddenly looked up from whatever they were doing and phones were clicked open. In about a half a minute, the train started swaying gently.
The Great Tokai Quake cometh
Japan has been preparing for many years for the Great Tokai Earthquake. 東海 (Tōkai) is a region southwest of Tokyo on the Pacific coast. It includes Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, the city of Nagoya, and Mt. Fuji. Every 110 years or so it has a massive earthquake and the latest one is more than 150 years overdue. The Tokai region is about 150 kilometers (100 miles) from Tokyo.
The JMA has a color coded warning system much like the US’s terror alert system, except that it actually means something. It’s also easier to interpret—the colors are green (okay, blue if you’re Japanese), yellow and red. You can probably guess what they mean but I’ll explain anyway.
- Green — Things are peachy. Carry on as usual.
- Yellow — Strange things are happening in the earth’s crust. Secure furniture, fill the bathtub, contact family to let them know where you are, and don’t drive anywhere or get on any trains.
- Red — It’s likely to hit. Stock provisions, stay away from steep cliffs that might slide down on top of you, and keep the TV on for important safety announcements.
The JMA has a page on their website where they report if there’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on. Nothing anomalous today… whew!
Earthquakes happen and there’s not much you can do except to be prepared. But the good news is that at the time of writing, only 3 nuclear reactors are still running in Japan and according to the news, they’re likely to be turned off by April. If there’s one thing scarier to me than a huge earthquake, it’s a nuclear meltdown.
