To get an idea of where we are in relation to this earthquake, I've created a Google Map:
View Okinawa - March 11, 2011 in a larger map
The earthquake and tsunami were not really experienced in Okinawa in the same way as the mainland. Actually, neither one of us realized that the earthquake had happened until 2-3 hours afterwards.
Okinawa was issued tsunami warnings for about 5:40pm on Friday. (We are usually able to find out this kind of info from military websites, the JMA, AFN radio and the locals. Joe was actually stopped by local Okinawa law enforcement on his way home from work, to let him know about the tsunami warning. The main road outside of our neighborhood - Awase Bay Street -was being closed. Living on the 7th floor is a good thing for tsunamis!)
We were grateful that the tsunami that came our way was in no way devastating. We took photos and video, but I imagine it will be kind of hard to see the subtle change in the tide. At about 5:30 pm we were at low tide. The tsunami was "scheduled" to be at Okinawa at 5:40pm. We didn't really see anything until 6:00pm.
At 5:15pm, it looked like this outside our apartment:
By 5:55pm it looked like this (hardly any change in the evening tide):
It was only around 6pm that we started to notice changes. The little bit of white water at the edge was moving quite quickly. We went from low to medium tide in a matter of minutes. That may not seem like much, but it usually takes a few hours!
By 6:06 (great thing about digital photos!) there was a change in water -- it wasn't surging anymore. It was still:
By 6:30 pm the tide was back out to where it would be normally at low tide. We didn't see any other surges or problems the rest of the evening.
We are very blessed to have not been hurt by these natural disasters. Please continue to keep those in northern Japan in your thoughts and prayers.
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