What do you do when one occurs?

So I called the Tokyo Fire Department to ask them the specific measures

that we should take when one happens.

And they told me they have a disaster learning center here in Sumida ward

between Kinshicho station and the Tokyo Skytree.

They also have an earthquake simulator that can simulate

the Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011.

Keep watching until the end of this video because I'm going to share

with you my personal experience when the Great Tohoku Earthquake occurred.

Something that changed my life and the way I see this country.

Let's go to the Tokyo Fire Department's disaster learning center.

♫ Intro music ♫

In Japanese: Welcome

Peter von Gomm: ONLY in Japan

The Tokyo Fire Department knows the value in educating people.

It makes their job easier and it saves lives.

The Honjo Bosaikan, or Life Safety Learning Center, for disasters

is free to visit and gives great insight into how to survive

the worst disasters.

It's very family friendly with many things in English to help new foreign

residents learn too.

There are videos of catastrophic events and interactive quizzes.

You won't leave here without learning something useful.

This liquefaction simulator shows just how dangerous earthquakes can be

under the ground.

By definition, it occurs when water-logged sediments at, or near, the ground surface

lose their strength in response to the strong ground shaking.

The ground becomes liquid and swallows everything from the surface.

Besides earthquakes, Japan also has typhoons: hurricane-like storms

originating in the Pacific.

They bring heavy winds and rains, and this simulation helps us understand

why we should stay inside during a storm by experiencing it.

So we're going to try out this experience.

A rainstorm situation probably in the worse possible way.

Hana is going to be joining us.

Let's go inside and see how this works.

Unlike virtual reality simulators, this one you really can feel.

We were let inside the room with coats, boots, and masks

to a pole to hang on to.

Alright. Are you ready?

(Hana) I'm ready.

(John) Alright.

We knew what was coming but we didn't know what it would be like.

And we didn't have to wait long to find out.

[Water spray]

Ahhhhhhhh!!!

[Heavy wind and water]

I couldn't put my head up or let go of the railing.

It's easy to understand how one could lose control and be tossed into

an unfortunate situation.

Wow. That was the worst situation you could possibly go through,

perhaps, ever, in a rain storm.

How do you feel?

(Hana) Um -- WET!

(John) You feel wet. [Evil laughs] Haha.

This was not like any ride at an amusement park.

So although we're in a simulation situation it's kinda fun because we know

we're in a safe environment.

But to experience the kind of winds that does blow people away

really makes you think about, well, you have to be prepared.

And when this kind of wind and storm is out there?

Don't go outside. Stay inside and be safe.

And after experiencing it you can understand why.

And I think that's why this is pretty important.

I asked Imamura-san, director of the learning center, why he believes

these kinds of disaster simulations are so important.

(Imamura) For example, in an earthquake situation,

if someone who has never experienced one before

suddenly faces a strong magnitude,

they will naturally panic.

However, if they have prior training

with an earthquake simulator,

they could react more calmly

and make better decisions.

Our primary goal is to provide some practice

so that you can protect and

save your loved ones in a disaster situation.

(John) Regarding the topic of earthquakes,

what do you want international visitors to know?

(Imamura) In Japan, the infrastructure is built under strict

regulations to withstand strong earthquakes.

Thus, it's unlikely a building would collapse

during an earthquake.

So, in case of an earthquake, it is likely safer

to stays indoors.

But always remember to protect your head.

And rule number one is to stay calm.

However, although it can be safer indoors,

if you see objects that might fall,

evacuate the area as much as possible.

(John) This is the earthquake simulation room.

♫ Dramatic music ♫

It has been engineered to give visitors a serious shake exactly like some of

the worst earthquakes in Japanese history.

This is as real as it gets

you know, of course, to the real thing: an earthquake.

So now we're going to be entering the simulation room.

This is where it all happens.

A chance for you to try some very serious earthquakes.

Now in Japan, as I said before, earthquake is not measured in magnitude, but shindo.

It's important to understand how Japan measures earthquakes.

Magnitude is an estimate of the relative size or strength of an earthquake

from "1" to "10", although "9.4" is the highest known event.

This scale sums up the size and strength of the numerical figure.

The 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake measured a "9.1" and is the fourth

greatest earthquake in recorded history.

The Japanese system is different though.

The "shindo intensity scale" measures the degree of shaking in the event of

an earthquake on a scale from "0" to "7".

This is different because it doesn't measure the size or intensity but the actual

shaking in the areas impacted by the release of energy.

Here's the scale.

You don't really feel it until shindo 3.

At shindo 5, there are variations: a lower and upper.

At shindo 6, you can't stand up.

At shindo 7, you lose all body control and you may be thrown into the air.

Shindo 7 earthquakes have only been measured four times in Japan.

We're about to simulate two of them right now.

Wow.

Uh, this one is going to be the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake that devastated Kobe.

It's extremely strong and they can simulate that here so

we're going to give that a try.

Ok.

That button reads "shindo 7".

The Great Hanshin Earthquake hit Kobe on January 17, 1995 at 5:46 AM.

Alright. Alright.

The city was asleep. Imagine being in your bed as it starts off this violently.

Oh.

Oh. OH!

This one!

This fell down over.

Aww.

That.. it's still going on.

Just because it kinda settles down, the earthquake, sometimes, it's not over.

You can feel it. There are aftershocks as well.

I can still feel some of the rumbling.

Um, the simulation actually has sound effects of the things going on around you

which is incredible.

It seems too real.

6434 people are believed to have lost their lives.

The epicenter was very close to the city of Kobe causing catastrophic damage.

This triggered over 300 fires which ravaged many parts of the city.

That one you can't even prepare for.

It just suddenly happens.

The earthquake just hits you.

There's nothing you can do in that kind of a situation.

You have a very short amount of time to react.

So that's why this kind of training is important for you to realize that

at a moment, these things, these earthquakes can strike and the way

you react can save your life.

So you can see we're resetting it.

Everything has moved.

This table is very heavy.

(Imamura) The inside is made with steel.

(John) Wow.

This is the simulation of the 3/11 earthquake.. wow.. in Tohoku.

Ok, ok. I'm ready.

I have some bad memories of this.

Oh, oh!

Oh my gosh.

(John whimpers)

Everything is moving all around me.

You can feel just this rumbling going up and down.

The entire trailer here is shaking.

It says it lasts about a minute.

I'm just going to go underneath this table here

because I just don't know what else to do.

Woah! WOAH!

This is really, really, long.

(John breathes heavily)

That.. brings back a lot of memories that I never wanted to experience again.

That was quite an experience that I've been through before.

And just the length of it.

At first you don't know what to do.

You're like a deer in headlights when an earthquake like this hits.

And then, anything that you've had, any kind of training will kick in.

You get underneath the table or you brace yourself somewhere.

My first reactions were not good.

Many years ago when I was in that earthquake here in Tokyo.

But to experience it again, it brought back some really tough memories.

Brought back some really tough memories.

The simulation made me remember

exactly how it was on March 11th.

How did it recreate the pattern so accurately?

(Imamura) In Japan, when an earthquake occurs, we use

multitudes of seismometers to record the patterns.

This helps us predict earthquakes more accurately.

We then retrieve this information and

use it to program our simulators.

John: Earthquakes happen often here.

When relatively small ones occur,

locals tend to not do anything.

They usually continue whatever they were doing.

But international visitors immediately

jump under the tables.

(Imamura) Yes, that is the correct reaction.

Japanese people have gotten used to

earthquakes a little too much.

As you experienced earlier, even when

an earthquake may feel weak initally,

it can suddenly increase power.

We can never predict the strength of an earthquake.

That is why we must always take

precautions when one occurs.

John: At a nearby park I reflected back on that tragic day: March 11, 2011.

That was actually hard for me to be in that earthquake simulation

during the exact thing, the exact pattern, of what happened on March 11, 2011.

It was like after the earth...., that simulator ended, a lot of the memories

came back to me, of that day.

I was at home in front of the computer editing videos,

and I was frozen. I was in my seat in front of my desk

and I didn't know what to do.

I looked out the window behind me and my building, I'm on the 6th floor, it was

swaying like I was on a boat.

I think about twenty seconds into it, I finally got up and I put my hand on

the doorknob and thought about going outside

but then I didn't.

I just stayed there in the doorway.

And then it just started to go down again.

My heart was racing. I was really freaked out.

The first thing I did was call my friends. Call people that I knew and ask them

if they were okay.

Ask them, "What happened?"

I went on to the television. I picked it up off the floor and watched NHK

and you could see that they had experienced the same thing in the studio across town.

And a lot of people left Japan in 2011.

And this channel was started as a reaction to a lot of information not being

conveyed correctly maybe to the public.

To just build a positive image about Japan.

That's why I started this channel.

So that's why this episode really does mean a lot to me to be able to do.

Because I experienced it myself.

No matter the amount of training you do, an actual shindo 7 earthquake is going

to frighten you.

You will feel helpless.

The entire world around you will be unstable.

The impact goes beyond just the shaking.

Living in Japan means you must learn your area's disaster plan and be as ready

as you can be if the "big one" does occur.