The jklmeltons are okay

I have received lots of inquiries about our situation here in Japan and can say there are no problems in Kumamoto. We are far from the devastation  in northern areas of Honshu. If you can help financially, the Red Cross is taking donations on their website. You can send a small amount as well with a text message to 90999 in the U.S.

Thanks to everyone for your concern. Please keep the Japanese in your thoughts. We hope for a speedy recovery.

The Fukuoka Earthquake Today

Boy, that was the biggest ride I have had since I have lived in Japan! I was working on the confluence post today when the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. A half a second later, the whole place started shaking. I don’t know the “magnitude” (a formula based on the Richter scale) for our area because most of the reports use the closed Japanese scale (1 to 7). We registered a four on the Japanese scale. From my experience growing up in Southern California, I would have to say that we were in the mid-4′s on the Richter scale today. I haven’t felt any aftershocks today, but the Fukuoka area seems to be getting one or two an hour. Let’s hope the big ones are all done.