Earthquakes - trembling Viv

Have you ever experienced an earthquake? How about a really strong shaker?

This morning I was jolted awake by an earthquake. They occur quite often these days - either that or I'm more paranoid/sensitive to them than ever!
Many months ago a huge earthquake struck the Kanto region (this area) while I was on my way to Tokyo. On the highway bus I didn't feel a thing. When we arrived at Tokyo Station I noticed nothing was running and a bunch of security guards were scrambling about. I immediately thought, "terrorists!!!" only to be informed by another passenger that a fairly large earthquake just took place. How very inconvenient - I was late for my party in Ebisu...an ol' businessmen drinking district. Finally quite late and exasperated from waiting for a train (the whole Tokyo trans system halted for a number of hours) I taxi-ed it with a gal also destined for Ebisu. Anyway since that earthquake came and went, I became even less fond of Tokyo. If such a minor earthquake could paralyze the city to such an extent, how about THE BIG ONE? You know, the overdue earthquake seismologists predict might topple and crush Tokyo. I dunno about topple and crush...but you get the idea of what kind of damage could be done!

I'll never forget an earthquake (in Taiwan) that struck while my mom and I were watching "The Quick and the Dead." (don't ask about the movie...) I thought, "amaaazing! These Asian theatres are fully-equipped with surround sound AND motion effects, too!" That thought persisted seconds until I heard people trampling over one another to get to the exit. Everyone was shouting, "DEE ZHENNNNNN," which means "earthquake" in Mandarin Chinese.