3/11, 13 years on

March 11, 2024, marks 13 years since the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011. The disaster claimed the lives of 18,131, with 2829 unaccounted for, and resulted in the total destruction of nearly 130,000 structures, with an additional 1,000,000 buildings damaged. The tsunami, ranging in height from 7.6- 14.8 meters, caused damage to 36,000 structures. I was on the top floor of a rickety old building in Niigata City that Friday afternoon when, at about 2:45. the shaking began. And didn't stop. There were four of us in the meeting room, all of us with experience of strong tremblors, but this was different: the shaking went on and on and on. Finally, after about 45 seconds, our Japanese supervisor, clearly rattled, suggested we vacate the building. At the time none of us had a smartphone, so it wasn't until I returned home, hours later, that I first saw footage (filed under 2011 Earthquake) of the destruction.