Okinawa is a prefecture located southernmost of Japan and is consisted of a number of islands. See Japan Mode for information on Okinawa itself. Ever since my very first visit there I fell in love with it: it is the only and last place in Japan where amazing nature and unique atmosphere (it used to be a different country many many years ago) remains today. It is absolutely stunning.
Very sadly, my most favorite place on earth is suffering devastating landslides the heavy rain had caused.
I heard on the TV news that an apartment building built on top of a hill is about to collapse because of severe landslide, and that its parking lot has already sunk due to land sinking. In the same news they also said that the land is literally sliding 14mm (slightly shorter than 1/2 inch) in one day. That’s only 1.4cm, it’s like the width of your fingernail. But according to specialists in architecture, even 1cm could do serious harm to houses.
If you think about it, well yes, a relatively small piece of land is bearing enormous pressure of a building quite tall, so it’s not a huge surprise to know that 1cm can kill an apartment (although we call them ‘mansion’ here). But one centimeter…
The long rain during this season is not like typhoon with wind that has great power and speed. But by raining quietly little by little for many days it can become a huge threat to our daily lives. Power of nature, huh?
So the story about elevators yesterday, today’s rain, and many other unhappy news… where has Japan’s “safety myth” gone???
It’s been raining since last night here in Tokyo. It seems like it has temporarily stopped at the moment, but I hear this weekend is going to be rainy and next week, too. Can’t tell you how jealous I am to see Germany on TV so sunny and dry!
No comments:
Post a Comment