Photo/Illutration Books fallen from library shelves are piled on the floor in Shinchi, Fukushima Prefecture, on Feb. 14. (Shigetaka Kodama)

Novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) had just finished lunch and was about to have a cup of tea when the ground heaved violently.

Akutagawa dashed toward the front door, mindless of his sons--a 3-year-old and an infant not yet a year old.

“Shame on you for forgetting your babies,” his wife chastised him.

That was the day when the Great Kanto Earthquake struck in 1923.

The family hastily evacuated the next day, fearful of quake-triggered fires reaching their home.

Unlike his wife, who lugged their children’s clothing, the only item Akutagawa took with him in a “furoshiki” wrapping cloth was a scroll of calligraphy by Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), whom he revered as “sensei.”

That their behavior in the aftermath of an earthquake will be remembered and recounted forever is a price all literary greats must pay.

The magnitude-7.3 earthquake that occurred late at night on Feb. 13 off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture affected a wide range of eastern Japan.

A landslide blocked an expressway and broken power transmission poles disrupted Shinkansen services. A fair number of people were injured.

Still, considering the temblor’s intensity, only minimal damage was done, thanks probably to the public’s day-to-day preparedness.

Recalling my own reaction, I am ashamed to admit that I panicked pathetically. I was at home, but I failed to even check the kitchen stove or duck for cover.

When I opened our emergency evacuation bag, I found bottles of water past their storage life and only two spare face masks. I chided myself for getting lax in emergency preparedness.

Novelist Riichi Yokomitsu (1898-1947), who survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, recalled: “I thought that heaven and Earth had been torn apart. This was it, and I wasn’t going to make it. I was convinced that the Earth had been destroyed.”

Even though Yokomitsu escaped unscathed, he wrote that the “terror I felt in my heart” lingered for a long time.

I imagine the dread the weekend’s severe jolt must have revived in every survivor of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011.

It was such a relief that there was no tsunami this time, but I keep praying with all my heart for a quick end to the continued shaking of the ground.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 16

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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