+ ~6 }7 O# A0 w. ]这是我第一次遇到地震时的情形。此前几天，我刚刚迁居日本。 5 ^6 J+ i b- o: s, B1 p. z; z0 ?8 n' x
这种现象很典型，地震一来，所有的人都估摸，这一次到底会有多严重？什么时候要跑到室外？是钻到桌子底下？还是站到门框下呢？我们都知道，门框下，是整个屋子支撑力最强的地点。# o5 W3 I" [! b$ D& y3 M
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几秒钟后，颤动感消失了。人们继续聊天儿，寿司厨师又抡起了手中沉沉的刀。* u2 A: d; l1 n
5 B3 z1 X! T0 `" } W+ x5 S再过几秒钟，酒吧一角的电视屏幕上显出一条白色字幕，所有的频道无一例外。字幕通告地震的强度和震中位置。 5 t9 |+ |$ `& P % M/ _" ~6 _2 i% \3 d那一次，不是大地震。但是，日本人知道，迟早有一天会碰上大地震。问题是，什么时候呢？9 e2 y, l- \0 `, ?% W) Q
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日本民间流传着一种说法，地震前，动物会出现异常行为。比如，鲤鱼会跳出水面。日本政府曾经出资赞助一个试验项目，监测鲤鱼的活动，看看是否能用鲤鱼来预测地震。7 C. s. I8 m, n# _# M8 n
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日本人随时随刻都在等着自然灾害的降临：洪水、飓风、火山喷发，时刻难忘的，当然就是地震和海啸了。 9 K/ p* A. I! {' g4 J * A; [, x/ ? }0 i3 D! N. e英文中，海啸一词是从日语音译而来的。这一点并非巧合。3 h2 \. b& S" \5 C- F4 ~
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万物有灵, u* R& T* Y. o+ G' V4 w: d
6 m/ C0 V& r5 j3 H R+ B7 x日本人信奉的神道教主张“万物有灵”，山山水水、草草木木都有神气；岩石深深的裂缝内有女神。仿佛，整个地球都是活的。9 j* w6 j7 N* }6 }: Q; A1 f
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日本坐落于火山地震带上。有国标之称的圆锥形富士山就是一座火山。 ! ^( s- ~; F- c6 o- g% u8 u + |/ j# Q% q# c" {$ S/ a, [) ?滚烫的泉水从岩缝中喷发而出，给日本带来了“温泉王国”的美誉。 8 M# `8 C, Z {/ h/ b$ U* M4 n: f/ {. a: q K& v2 q$ T: P
别府市有许多散发着浓烈硫磺气味的温泉，人称“地狱”。其中的“血池温泉”要算别府最有名的地狱了。一池血红、炽热的泉水，旁边站立着凶煞的守护神。, i" r; u1 ~, m/ u/ W" M
6 h. D9 u {$ G A; Q所有的日本人都知道，任何时候，大自然都有可能选择与他们作对。" F6 E+ d, q1 Q2 i/ x0 h
0 W& p* c; v0 p: ?! a8 x$ TJapan: A fragile country at the mercy of nature , T2 J8 T. o& r. T 3 t1 o$ F3 N! [7 q) M) qThe world is reacting with shock at the huge quake and tsunami that has devastated Japan, but people there have learnt to expect natural disasters. $ g9 h G- X H% K7 u7 ?' S 9 l( B* s l% z* I" Q+ nThe first indication was a humming and a rattling.- o% n, _) G# U) B0 H
7 ~! Y& `, z5 cHundreds of upturned beer glasses on wooden shelves, shook from side to side, then knocked into each other. Conversation dimmed then stopped completely. Faces looked from one to another across the plates of tempura and sushi.- |% \5 ?3 e" p& T0 v8 o; [4 h
" u6 R+ g& K! A"Quick," shouted the barman, "turn off the gas." 6 B, M7 {7 V8 w- |" O' X& a, `# X% I
It was my first experience of a tremor, just a few days after I had gone to live in Japan. And it was typical - everyone trying to gauge just how serious this quake was going to be. 7 H9 `% @& t* K" P+ ^# o0 b& Y% i7 g+ [& ~; E/ `. e
When should we get up and try to run outdoors? Or would we have to dive under the tables? Or seek safety under a door frame - which we all knew was the strongest part of the room?3 ^* W4 z2 \0 e% g9 O$ q
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After a few seconds the tremor subsided, the conversation picked up, the sushi chef started wielding his heavy knife on the chopping block. ) @3 H1 z F9 V4 \+ d3 ?7 D/ D& o% Q0 j5 z1 d; l9 n
Just a few seconds later, a white subtitle appeared on the TV in the corner - it was on all channels - indicating the size of the quake and the location of the epicentre. - t. H" ]3 v$ V% k* y1 Z7 Z* R- i( j6 f9 C# @6 z
It was not the "big one". But everyone knew that one was coming.' P3 a$ \* n( C- u, d. y B
7 j& P' C3 Q" A# FThe question was: when?; e' C. V5 @0 z: m. y# Q
4 R) w' i6 c$ [* T/ yTradition held that animals and fish would act strangely ahead of a quake - carp, for example, would jump out of the water. ' S2 b! J* d+ s+ G$ O, ?& O9 D7 b& V- H" u4 u' n
The Japanese government even sponsored an experiment to monitor carp activity to see if they could be used to predict tremors. , N+ H8 n, M: {, E4 O) H t" O3 w+ N" H% A$ dJapanese people live with an ever-present expectation of natural disaster - floods, hurricanes, fires, and most of all earthquakes and the massive waves they can generate., C+ U, T( A. e
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Hell on earth?) W# M3 y( c" u1 l8 n
$ Z) w. D# s8 f0 ]+ r, YIt is no coincidence that tsunami is a Japanese word. * {' z! J* \' e( g. _9 ~4 ^: w: W9 t0 I( x) X5 K8 z% c6 T
The native religion, Shinto, is animist - speaking of the divine nature of trees and mountains, of goddesses who emerged from deep clefts in the rocks. The very earth can seem alive.% X1 Q9 \/ J6 f! Z1 Z
" A' }7 k7 k3 C( BThe islands sit on a massive fault line and the classic image of the country is the perfect volcanic cone of Mount Fuji. 5 P7 w! J+ l% i. v 0 P8 M `2 B% {) B4 FBoiling hot water steams up from cracks in the rocks, exploited for the natural hot springs that are one of the country's great wonders.- u" N' I- l. f5 [1 _$ h* f
$ s$ ]1 c$ W1 P" [8 @4 zIn the town of Beppu you can see pools of foul-smelling sulphuric waters that emerge from the earth. But the big draw is the dark red pool guarded by statues of ferocious, boggle-eyed deities. It is called Jigoku - Hell.4 P; J+ M: T" P/ J0 ~% S' {, d
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All Japanese know that at any time the powers of the earth can turn against them.7 |7 F3 ]( l P% b, R
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In 1923, the great Kanto earthquake devastated Tokyo." j8 w) w$ p5 ?9 g! \1 X+ Q T
+ g4 ~; \; G) E8 K# l$ L2 h# IFires raged across a city built of wooden houses, killing an estimated 140,000 people. x5 u$ Y0 t b, ]! V7 g3 ^% j, k0 c" j+ W8 Y# J
Since then the population on the Kanto plain has grown massively in an interconnected series of cities from the mountains down to the sea. * y ~& h9 F. N v L. Y* B0 F( x& Q* }
Everyone knows that the pressure between the tectonic plates deep underground will be released sometime.$ J' s( m8 N1 K1 h
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Everyone prepares. Schools and office workers take part in earthquake drills. And these are dramatic.1 b1 k& Q6 d1 h
8 ~0 c! ~; f5 o6 S3 R6 G- t" BThe authorities bring along a mock-up of a living room, complete with a sofa and a dining table, with one wall missing so you can see inside. " d% w* L1 ]4 X4 b4 N0 `) \. k# U+ D$ [- ?$ ]6 C- [, W
The whole room is mounted on a machine on a truck and gently the mechanism rocks the room from side to side - simulating the usual tremors that you feel every few days. 6 N& b# o3 X( ^7 L$ Q) e & k7 p: c' \. M* i: V4 YCurtains sway and plates slide across tables. # A4 m) y* T$ w. @+ f" D' C5 U$ I6 [$ m0 ^+ i1 w4 n1 e
The movement gets stronger and stronger, wilder and wilder. Crockery smashes, the furniture is hurled about furiously.* ]7 u# |0 x0 j. ?$ B! R4 X( @: H
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Just watching, you can feel the panic rising in your stomach. And this is just a mock-up of a moderate quake., V' b' Q, M& T, \" R+ K3 q
8 y; n ^: ^3 R, c LExtraordinary resilience# I- G5 S" u" _5 I
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An ever-present sense of disaster is deeply woven into traditional ways.: z( [, ^: d2 f! f! E1 j
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Japanese culture has long-prized fragility, impermanence, transience.* u X. D8 f1 x, g
A% y) B: g& g' j9 L9 I; VThe cherry blossom is the most prized of all expressions of nature because it achieves such a brief perfection before falling carelessly.. `! p$ ^) K# G9 ?
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Samurai - so it was said - gave up their lives with similar carelessness, because their honour was more important. 8 l) F* Y. c0 b8 k9 x' c3 h) ? + p* \6 O7 t1 F. {( j2 L# kZen teaching praised the way bamboo's flexibility gave it a special strength. 7 {/ T0 s6 B! o+ Q 2 _# v: F8 ]$ C) c ]+ z( lSubjected to force it sways and bends. It does not snap. ; x3 q8 V' p# b' j f3 u9 x# U2 y 2 K, K$ G! Z8 T% KThe Japanese traditionally built their houses lightly out of wood and it is said this is so they would sway in an earthquake rather than simply collapse. u* u' Z( S1 Y7 I/ ^: \- G: v7 t* R: y& s3 B4 k6 d
The city of Tokyo has shown extraordinary resilience.9 Y! `# [: Q4 ~+ E! X* j1 A% l* Y% z
& t2 ?0 u. K9 a+ m3 hIn March 1945, a couple of decades after the great earthquake, American B29s dropped incendiary bombs on the city of wooden houses.% |/ |0 P+ O& W
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The resulting firestorm killed 100,000 people in the course of a single night. ' e) W+ J Q! Y9 a5 D+ c( Q3 U, B C$ F- I- {2 v
Waiting for the "big one" is a part of Japanese life and the carp, it turns out, are no help. They have no better idea of when a tremor will strike than the rest of us.
