I assume majority of us Americans do not know what it feels like to experience a 7 to 9 earthquake /tsunami ( March 11, 2011, in Japan ) , an off -the charts typhoon ( as in 200 mile/hr super typhoon / 240 mile /hr. wind gust/ tsunami – like storm ocean surge, Nov.11, 2013 in the Philippines) and the second biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century and the largest that occurred in a densely populated area (June 11, 1991 in the Philippines ) , tsunami that originated in Sumatra, and devastated 5 other countries ( Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc , in 2004 ) that caused the death of almost half a million people.
I’m now remembering the 7th anniversary of Japan’s 3/11 earthquake and tsunami.
I’ve been obsessing about this for 2 weeks now, watching all the videos , including the ones in the Philippines. I am in awe of the destructive forces of nature. The storm in New Orleans was Category 3 when in reached landfall…… the one in the Philippines was more than Category 5 , the highest category , and they said , it should have been Category 7 if there was such a category. Filipinos are used to typhoons. They will shrug off Category 3, and maybe Category 5 or more . After all, they get at least 2 dozen typhoons a year. What devastated the area was the unexpected tsunami -like storm surge which the country had never experienced before. The people were angry at the warnings because they weren’t told a tsunami would follow. The Philippine Weather Bureau did warn of a storm surge over and over , but the people countered they didn’t understand what a storm surge was. They should have used the term tsunami , instead of friggin’ storm surge. Well, I understand the logic. The contentious interchange would have been comical if it wasn’t so tragic. What made this event even more tragic was the fact a nearby Philippine island, Bohol, suffered a 8.0 earthquake a month before Haiyan typhoon.
The Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire is a horse -shoe shaped area surrounding the Pacific Oceans….it’s a string of volcanoes, ocean trenches, tectonic plates and intense volcanic and seismic activities.
a) It is home to 452 volcanoes….. 75% of the world’s active ones are located within this ring.
Mt. Pinatubo eruption, 1991, ( Philippines) second biggest in 20th century, and caused the lowering of world’s temperature by 1 F .
2) Roughly 90% of all the world’s earthquakes occur here.
3) It stretches about 25,000miles from new Zealand northwest to the Philippines, northeast to Japan, east to Alaska, south to Oregon, California ( San Andreas plate ) Mexico, and the Andes Mountains of South America.
Here’s the thing….. Japan ‘s Tokyo has one of the most beautiful skyline in the world. The city of Metro-Manila, Philippines , is currently #12 in the world’s most beautiful city skyline. I mean, how many cities are there in the world ? That means, beautiful skyscrapers, tall buildings, etc. I hope these 2 cities are fully prepared for the inevitable. It’s a scary thought.
Manila………….
This is all for now. Bye and peace.
Check out my manga/anime/video games blogsite @ https://2megaworthitwordpresscomblog.wordpress.com/ My new entry is Re: Mind, a Japanese live action, Netflix original.
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko
renxkyoko's space 
Posted by cindy knoke on March 12, 2018 at 2:34 am
Whoa!!! So intense!
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 2:56 am
I couldn’t find the tsunami in Iwate Prefecture. That is the most intense, I think.
Posted by Rebecca Dawn on March 12, 2018 at 3:26 am
I remember when I was in gr8 how we used to prepare for earthquake situations but now we take it for granted we don’t have large ones☹️
It is so scary to watch on the news and seeing the devastation. Watching how people recover from it. I think the most incredible thing is how people will come together and help each other through a disaster.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 3:34 am
I experienced typhoons in the Philippines. Last time we were there, there was no electricity for one week. Most of the electric poles in the city fell down. We were on vacation, and for one week, we were stuck in our house. Ugh. While the storm was raging, my mom opened the curtains and let us see what a tropical typhoon looked like. Trees and branches were flying all over, and the sound was terrifying. My mother was like, ” Now, you know. “
Posted by Leeyo on March 12, 2018 at 6:06 am
your mom was like, #thuglife.
Posted by Rebecca Dawn on March 13, 2018 at 1:31 am
I dont think I would be ever able to handle typhoons. I can barely handle thunderstorms or rainstorms. nope.
Posted by disperser on March 12, 2018 at 3:35 am
I’ve only experienced one earthquake of any significance.
This was a 4.1 quake (or 4.3 quake, depending on where you read). Terra firma stands for “solid ground”. Few people realize just how not solid it is.
For those who have not been in earthquakes, let me give you a description. Things you think are solid around you — the floor, walls — suddenly take on the characteristics of an inflatable playground. That is, they do not feel solid at all.
It was a bit as if someone grabbed the room I was in and treated it like a salt-shaker. Everything felt “loose”. I remember once in Michigan where the concrete slab I was standing on moved as if it were a springy mattress. This was more dynamic.
The shaking was strong enough to knock down a couple of the figurines I brought with me. I don’t have a real-time video of the event, so I did a recreation for illustrative purposes.
[video src="https://videos.files.wordpress.com/wWovp1yb/20160723_161831_dvd.mp4" /]
Posted by disperser on March 12, 2018 at 3:38 am
Hmm . . . the video didn’t show up . . . let me try this:
[video src="https://disperser.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/20160723_161831.mp4" /]
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 4:06 am
Still nothing. ‘ _’
Posted by disperser on March 12, 2018 at 4:39 am
If you highlight the link and open it, it works, but this is easier:
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 7:19 am
Re-enactment…… LOL !
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 4:16 am
My brother just came home from school, and was taking a shower when a 7..4 earthquake happened. He said he fell down on the tiles and watched the walls moving left and right. My sister was still in school ( they were both in elementary ) , on 4th floor. The teacher told them to stay calm , grab their schoolbags ,and go down the stairs calmly. The students though went on panic mode ( of course ) . My sister was trying to grab her bag when about 4 students stepped on her hand.. her hand was swollen for about a week. I wasn’t born yet. ‘_’
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 4:18 am
My brother just came home from school, and was taking a shower when a 7..4 earthquake happened. He said he fell down on the tiles and watched the walls moving left and right. My sister was still in school ( they were both in elementary ) , on 4th floor. The teacher told them to stay calm , grab their schoolbags ,and go down the stairs calmly. The students though went on panic mode ( of course ) . My sister was trying to grab her bag when about 4 students stepped on her hand.. her hand was swollen for about a week. I wasn’t born yet. ‘_’
Posted by cheesecake on March 12, 2018 at 4:43 am
we call the next big earthquake ‘the big one’. we are not sure when will it happen but all we can do is pray
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 4:58 am
I heard about that ! ! ! That’s why I’m so worried. I Hope it doesn’t occur at the Philippine tectonic plate on the ocean floor ( just like what happened in Japan ) …… I just watched a documentary about that event, and the narrator mentioned the Philippine tectonic plate so many times , like something similar may happen in the Philippiines in the near future. Uhm, cheesecake, where do you live ? Our house in the Philippines is on a hill, but we’re walking distance to Manila Bay. Ugh.
Posted by cheesecake on March 12, 2018 at 5:08 am
We are actually living in Quezon City part of the NCR. It would be very devastating if the big one happen here because of the concentration of the people here in the city. Just imagine the buildings or condominiums, oh well.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 7:16 am
Quezon City. That’s quite far from any body of water. But if it’s an earthquake , well, I guess, everbody’s a sitting duck. I experienced a big typhoon when I was there. It was so scary. I don’t remember any typhoon as a kid living there, and here in California, we don’t have that kind of storm. My mother said it was a ” regular”, no biggie. The heck . It felt like the apocalypse.
Posted by cheesecake on March 12, 2018 at 7:22 am
I actually find the typhoons recently not that ‘scary’. I remember as a kid like having your whole house almost be pulled off from the ground. Nowadays, the winds are not that heavy ALTHOUGH these are what killed many people like in the Yolanda and Ondoy. They are not strongest of storms but due to surges and flooding they made, they took a lot of lives with them.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 9:33 am
Ondoy typhoon sounds familiar. We were in the Philippines in July , 2010, and July , 2014.
Posted by Leeyo on March 12, 2018 at 6:08 am
I wonder why you’re obsessing with earthquakes and tsunamis for 2 weeks…
Posted by renxkyoko on March 12, 2018 at 7:03 am
I was aware Japanese tsunami’s anniversary was coming up, so I read up on it and watched all the videos I could find on You Tube. I’ve always been in awe of the forces of nature,, and modern technology is just no match against nature’s forces. One of the few places that should be concerned with these disasters just waiting to happen is the Philippines. It’s a small country. There’s nowhere to go.
Posted by Q. Win-Bee on March 17, 2018 at 8:17 pm
True! but i thought it has something to do with apocalypse or Armageddon lol
I agree with you. I think we are getting there. With all the calamities happened with the recent past, and the casualties it had, I can say we are learning and we are scared, and some of us are doing something about it. Hopefully the majority will…or better yet, all of us. may matitigas pa rin kasi talaga ang ulo.
Posted by imambertan on March 12, 2018 at 7:34 am
OMG time really flies
Posted by renxkyoko on March 13, 2018 at 8:21 pm
It does ! !
Posted by By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff on March 12, 2018 at 7:43 am
I’ve never lived through a major earthquake, but my niece was born in the middle of the devastating Northridge, CA earthquake in 1994. Thankfully my sister and brother-in-law were already at Cedar Sinai, so they were safe. So many others were killed though.
I remember watching on the news the disasters that hit Japan, the Philippines and of course Thailand. They were horrifying, and I can’t even imagine actually being there.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 13, 2018 at 8:20 pm
The coastline of California is within the Ring of Fire. So, the question is always when, not if.
It’s amazing that the Japanese and Filipinos take these disasters so calmly. When I was there on vacation, a huge storm was raging on at 7 AM, and there we were, enjoying our breakfast of fried bananas, eggs, hotdogs, and fried garlic rice.
Posted by usfman on March 12, 2018 at 11:35 pm
We just left New Orleans, as described in my latest blog, which is basically a giant bathtub of low lying swampland and I live in South Florida. No tidal waves like you experience however.
Posted by usfman on March 12, 2018 at 11:36 pm
Thank you for continuing to read my travel blog.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 13, 2018 at 7:45 pm
You’re welcome. If I’m not mistaken, I’ve been following your travel blog for several years now. Cheers !
Posted by equinoxio21 on March 14, 2018 at 7:05 pm
Quakes are impressive. Had a major one in Mexico city last year. And yet another, smaller one a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed.
Hope all is well.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 17, 2018 at 5:11 pm
Mexico seems to be experiencing more earthquakes these past few years. I saw a video of Mexico’s earthquake last year. Nobody can prevent earthquakes, but I hope architects in Mexico should be able to build buildings that can withstand earthquakes. I saw a lot of destroyed buildings on the video. Japan and Philippine architects are experts on this, so I heard. An architect relative said they devoted at least 4 semesters studying how to build earthquake – proof structures.
Posted by equinoxio21 on March 20, 2018 at 8:08 pm
Technically buildings are supposed to follow new norms since the ’85 deadly ‘quake here. But you know… Greed? Save on concrete? Put more sand? Grease palms? 😦
Posted by The Otaku Judge on March 16, 2018 at 11:49 am
My job has an office in Manila and there was once murmurs of me going over to teach the staff some tasks. Hope it doesn’t happen because the weather sounds terrifying.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 17, 2018 at 3:44 pm
Whoa, really ? I hope the murmurs are true. It’s going to be one unique experience. Everything there is exaggerated. ^^”
Posted by Peter Wells aka Countingducks on March 16, 2018 at 3:26 pm
I think my father experienced a hurricane in the Philippines which he was something he spoke about because here in the UK winds are normally on the gentle side so the kind of weather you talk about is seen only on the news. I am still full of thoughts about the people whose lives and homes were ruined in the recent storms, and how, so often, they are left to cope with the mess long after their caring government has gone off to deal with easier problems like sacking people!!
Posted by renxkyoko on March 17, 2018 at 4:00 pm
I ‘ve seen Tacloban City on You Tube years after, and it does look so much better.
The storms there are really scary, Peter Wells. But it seems the people are used to it, and are always prepared to confront these storms . When we were there, my aunt and mother were very calm, bought so much food dinners looked like a feast, lol, ( no electricity for one week ) and I think people there stock up on candles, lots and lots. But the sound of the storm was very terrifying.
Posted by loujen haxm'Yor on March 17, 2018 at 2:17 am
Of course the follow up sad part of the Japan tsunami was the Fukashima nuclear facility meltdown. I wonder what the results are for the current aftereffects.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 17, 2018 at 4:48 pm
That’s something I want to forget. T.T The flora and fauna and wildlife in Fukushima have been affected…. in fact, there’s a video of one wild boar that is actually glowing eerily in the dark. The birds have also mutated.And the first responders when the facility exploded are all deceased now.
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Posted by dekerivers on March 27, 2018 at 5:01 pm
This was a fascinating post. I would be so freaked out should the earth start quaking that I am not sure there would be enough meds to quiet me down afterwards. Volcanoes on the other hand–I would so enjoy seeing one erupting and have a science-minded person talk me through the process which is so powerful.
Posted by Mrs Me on March 31, 2018 at 8:53 am
Living in the UK I just can’t even imagine this, it all seems surreal! So scary. Xx