Aftershocks: A Report from the Field

David J. Atkinson was in Tokyo when the Tohoku-Oki earthquake occurred.  He writes: "It would be really hard to imagine any individual quake during that time because basically the ground never stopped moving and was a very scary hour or so. However,   I was live blogging on FB (Facebook), so I have the exact times and what I wrote....Here is the log of the posts that mention quakes."

"Big earthquake. Really big. I'm ok. No contact with mia or max. Tsunami warning. Some buildings on tv are burning

 March 11 at 1:54pm
7.9 about 230 km ne of Tokyo. Still shaking.

March 11 at 2:07pm
I'm in the hallway 4th floor office building. Continous aftershocks. Furniture toppled. But we stll have wifi! No phones.

March 11 at 2:12pm 
Another big one right now.

March 11 at 2:17pm 
Building seems stable but there are cracks in walls. Still shaking. Do I stay or start walking home? Maybe more danger on streets from debris or zombies.

March 11 at 2:23pm 
Another one pretty big. Whole lot o shaking goin on!

March 11 at 2:28pm
Tsunami and fire sirens outside.

March 11 at 2:32pm
Hearing report it was 8.9 and I can believe it. In Tokyo felt more like 6.5. Still having aftershocks. No traffic outside. Eerie.

March 11 at 2:42pm 
Home now. Another big aftershock right this second. Mia, Max are ok. Furniture at home is in disarray, stuff knocked off shelves, picture(s) down. No structural damage I can see.

March 11 at 4:21pm ·
Still rocking. Noisy.

March 11 at 4:32pm 
54 Earthquakes today and still counting. Really shaking in Tokyo. 

March 11 at 4:39pm 
Having a stiff Manhattan and I don't even have to stir the drink! (From the "Silver Lining Department")..."