Betty Johnson is an American civilian employee at the Yokosuka Military Base just south of Tokyo. The city, known for its naval importance, is also known for the Earthquake Preparedness and Awareness Center near city hall where people can experience the feeling of a strong earthquake in a controlled environment.
Johnson, whom I have known for a decade since she attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, experienced this week's earthquake in a controlled environment as well -- an elevator.
"I was actually in the elevator on my way downstairs to go to work when the earthquake hit at about 2:45 p.m., local time. It got me to the first floor before powering down, thankfully. The initial quake went on for quite a while, probably a good couple minutes," she said.
By the time I heard about the quake, Johnson had already posted on her Facebook page to let friends and family in the United States know that she was fine. Her cat was upset by the quake and aftershocks, she said, but otherwise, they rode out the quake fairly well. Johnson lives on base and didn't have to fight the local traffic after everything began closing because of the earthquake and the aftershocks.
"After I got to work, there were the 2 large aftershocks, and they evacuated the building both times. Most people were allowed to go home shortly after, so traffic on base got pretty bad, for a while. I know that the Ikego housing in Zushi had a power outage, but it was back up around 6:45 p.m.," she wrote. Johnson shared her story via Facebook private message.
Johnson lived in Seattle before moving to Japan with her husband, who is in the Navy, but she is originally from Illinois, just east of St. Louis. This area is on the New Madrid fault, but earthquakes here are relatively small and infrequent.
The Yokosuka Naval Base is about 200 miles from the epicenter of Friday's quake and suffered very few quake-related problems, Johnson said.
"I know the major highway nearby was gridlocked, the Yokosuka-Yokohama highway. it was taking people hours to get home, when it should have been maybe an hour in heavy traffic. Luckily, I live on base, we did not lose power, but everything did shut down early," she said.
On Saturday morning in Japan, Johnson was still unsure how the nation's emergencies would be affecting her. "The train system is still down. It's a little after 8 a.m. here, and I'm not sure what is going to be open today, but I think it should be everything."
The Yokosuka Naval Base is headquarters for the Seventh Fleet and will likely be the operating base for most American relief efforts in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. LINK
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