Quakes

Growing up in Scotland, there wasn't really a lot to worry about. Japan has had it all though. The day before I arrived, everyone was sent home from work early because there was a typhoon. On top of that, you have earthquakes and to a lessor extent, terrorism to worry about.

They seem pretty well prepared though. My apartment has, what I assume is, a bright orange earthquake emergency grab-bag. It contains a huge collapsible water container. Some white gloves. A glow stick. A first aid kit (at least I think that's what it is). Emergency rations.

What makes me feel a little better is this cunning system that's been developed. The 緊急地震速報, or Earthquake Early Warning system to you and me. Basically, if a large quake happens say, 50 miles away, a network of seismographs detects this, instantly calculates the epicentre and broadcasts this across the warning system. Various safety critical system will react automatically. So, the subway will shutdown, surgeons will withdraw from any delicate procedures, elevators will stop as soon as possible at the next floor, etc. In addition, there will be an instant emergency announcement across radio and tv (hopefully in multiple languages, so I'll know what on earth is going on). Depending on the distance there will be between 0 and a couple of a tens of seconds warning... scary.