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Japan: Nervous times during the wait for power shutoffs
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
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Norwin Simms was on the top floor of a Toyko tower — 250m above the city — when the earthquake struck last week.
The Belfast engineer (37), who is on a two-week holiday in Japan, said he had been surprised by how calmly most people had reacted to the huge quake on Friday afternoon.
“The quake hit while we were in the lift — we could feel it wobbling around as we went up,” he said.
“Not being a local, I assumed we were blowing in the wind. But it quickly became clear that this was an earthquake.
“There was no panic, despite the shaking — there was no screaming at all, and only one person in tears.”
He added that people were “nervous” about the possibility of aftershocks and nuclear meltdown.
He said the main talking point for locals was the threat of power blackouts, which are due to be rolled out across the country to conserve electricity.
“We have been expecting them all day, but they haven't happened, so we've still got power and internet access,” he said.
“The blackouts may or may not mean that people won’t go to work.”
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