Just as we thought that Japan was slowly coming back to normalcy and things were improving, yet another powerful quake struck. This time quake which struck at around 11.32 pm Japan time was earlier estimated to measure 7.4 magnitude on the Richter scale but later downgraded to 7.1 magnitude by USGS. We are currently in India but when we heard news of this latest quake it brought back memories of March 11th. This quake is supposedly an aftershock of last month's quake and is the biggest of the thousands of aftershocks that have rocked Japan in the last one month. In a nation already battered by last month's deadly quake, this quake did not cause much damage. But it did cause a lot of panic and sleepless nights. A tsunami advisory was issued only to be lifted a few hours later. When we contacted our Japanese friends, they sounded fine. This quake had failed to shake their confidence or affect their optimism. Many parts of Japan are still without power and smaller aftershocks continue. But people are going on with life. What touched us most was a friend's assurance.. in her own words - "We are fine, everything is ok. No damage, just shook for some time.We expect the tsunami but it will be okay I guess. We are sorry that you had to worry because of us". Yet another reminder of the Japanese politeness, humility and courage. Hats off to Japan, yet again.
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