Let's take a closer look!
Even before living in Tokyo, I was well aware of Japan's reputation for having frequent earthquakes. Earthquakes do not frighten me because I am from Los Angeles, California, where earthquakes also happen because the San Andreas fault runs directly through my state! Growing up in California, I participated in earthquake emergency drills each year at my school and I would experience small earthquakes about every one to two years. However, even I was surprised by the frequency of “noticeable earthquakes” while living in Tokyo. In the Los Angeles area, except for downtown, most of the buildings are one to four floors, but in Tokyo buildings are between two and 40 floors tall, or even more! I lived on the eleventh floor of my dorm building, so this was my first time experiencing earthquakes from such a height. Small earthquakes happen about twice a month in Tokyo, and the shaking was more noticeable when I was in my dorm room. Unlike California where the San Andreas fault line is located on dry land, fault lines in Japan are located underwater in the ocean off the east coast. As a result, cities like Tokyo must always consider the possibility and the damage of an incoming tsunami (a series of gigantic waves) triggered by an underwater earthquake.
I also learned about typhoons while living in Tokyo. Typhoons usually pass through the southern region of Japan, but in 2019 two typhoons passed near Tokyo. I missed the first one, Typhoon Faxai, but I experienced the second one, Typhoon Hagibis, when it arrived near Tokyo for a few days in October.
