family were on the train, next to the station, which comes out of tokyo and at 2:55 p.m., it suddenly stopped, and we knew there was a quake, right there. an, my first idea was, well, you know, this is fantastic, the japanese earthquake technology is at work. essentially, the train system if it feels the magnitude of the earthquake, it stops to prevent any derailing and that was good news and the bad news is we were stuck on the train two hours after that, no power and no bathroom and, we had to get down on the train tracks for a while to get to the station after that. and, after that, the japanese rail system, they shut all the stations, for everybody s safety
timively different than anything we have seen. even with the astounding damage they understand today, we are also confronted with the strange fact it really could have been worse. i mean that in one specific way. japan is one of the most earthquake ready nations on earth. in addition to multiple systems to warn the population and evacuate them from potential tsunamis, they also have one of the strictist building codes in the world. when earthquakes hit tall buildings, sway like this, that was not a mistake. that s what the billions of dollars in earthquake technology intended, deep foundations and shock absorbers make it sway. when they sway, they are less likely to fall. office buildings, schools and homes were outfitted with earthquake emergency kits with food, water, medical supply, hard hats, gloves. since the 1980s, japan invested in concrete sea walls, some as