Was that an earthquake? There's an app to find out.

It took me several days to figure out the constant shaking in my apartment came from my chair.  There's a reason it was on sale.  The thing moves every time my fingers hit the keyboard of my laptop.  I am not someone who bangs at keys.  I prefer the image of my fingers flying as opposed to thumping.  Thus, I attribute my confusion over the assumption the phantom aftershocks were my brain and body playing tricks on me, when it was in fact my defective office chair.

None of this should make anyone assume aftershocks are a done deal here in Japan.  Quite the contrary.  This has me just the slightest bit wigged out.

There's an iPhone app that I've downloaded.  It signals every earthquake, giving me the location and strength.  Lately, my phone has been buzzing multiple times daily.  The aftershocks are hitting mostly the same areas:  Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Chiba, Ibaragi.  Every now and then one will hit Hokkaido, Kyoto, Kyushu, Tokyo, or some other random prefecture.  The rest?  The same coastline that was hit last March, and that has continued to be pounded since.

What do I do with this information?  The 4.2, 4.7, 3.5, and occasional 5.2 jolts have me concerned.  Am I overly sensitive to these aftershocks because I have the app?  I don't always feel them.  I know there's been an earthquake because my phone buzzes.  That the buzzing has been non-stop lately, meaning earthquakes are happening one after the other after the other, means the plates are moving still.  So, I ask myself again, what do I do with this information?

There is talk of "the next big one" here in Tokyo.  Part of the time the assumption is it will hit Tokyo, and the other half of the time, the thought is "it will hit somewhere" but that where, no one can predict.  Not being a geologist or a seismologist I honestly don't know what to believe.

"We can't live our lives fearing this," my ex says.
"True," I say, "but does that mean we just pretend it's not going to happen?  What about you?  Have you stockpiled water?  Food?"
"Water, yes.  Food, no."
I wonder whether or not to tell him every time I leave the house in heels I secretly ponder whether I shouldn't be taking a pair of flats in my bag.  The idea of walking home for miles in heels on Tokyo's sidewalks makes me cringe.  I have yet to carry my flats with me, though.  What does that say about me?  Am I in denial?

If I deleted the app that makes my phone vibrate with every new earthquake, I could argue I suppose, I would be less bothered by the knowledge Japan is still shaking.  That logic doesn't quite work for me.  So, in the mean time, I will buy a bigger purse so I can fit my flats in the bag I carry with me always.  That logic does work for me.