In April 2011 there was a big earthquake.
Eri and Eiichi explain a little bit about what happened to the Tanaka family…
Eri (Mum):
I was at home with Eitaro, Hideko and the kids when the earthquake struck.
It was very scary. At first it felt quite small, but it gradually got stronger and stronger. The house was shaking for a long time.
Many things fell out of the cupboards in the kitchen. There were some broken plates and cups on the floor, but luckily the microwave oven and the gas stove were both ok.
As soon as the first earthquake finished we all evacuated into the garden. We thought that it would be safer there. There were many aftershocks though.
We met our neighbours outside and Suzuki san, who lives next door, brought his radio. We all stood around listening to the latest news for a long time.
I got a call from Eiichi saying he was ok. His office is in a tall building so I was relieved to hear he was fine.
Eiichi (Dad)
I was in my office when the earthquake struck.
My office is on the 30th floor so it was very scary when the building started shaking.
Most people got under their desks because so many things were falling off the shelves in the office. There was paper, files, folders, and books everywhere. The office was such a mess!
Luckily everyone was fine and finally we were able to evacuate the building. Of course we couldn’t use the elevator, so we had to use the stairs – from the 30th floor!
When I got outside I phoned my wife. I was happy to hear that everyone at home was ok.
After about 2 hours, we could go back into the office to get our coats and bags and then go home. This earthquake made me think that I really hate working on the 30th floor!
