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Notes: Greetings From Japan, Land of Earthquake Education Trucks
Posted by Brian Lam at 6:50 AM on September 23, 2008
Hello there, I'm in Tokyo for a few weeks. The remnants of the summer heat linger like a mosquito; even as it rains you can feel. My first morning here, a 4.8 earthquake rumbled through the city. Judging from the poise Lisa's family displayed, Japan's citizens are far better at responding to earthquakes than even Californians. Part of that comes from the common frequency of quakes in the region, but I'd also like to give credit to the good old Earthquake simulation truck, pictured in the video above. Advanced technology, indeed.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
jkr's bold comment
Posted 7:23 AM 23/9/08
we've had these on California for a long time brian, so meh.
jkr's bold comment
krystar
Posted 7:19 AM 23/9/08
WiiQuake?
krystar
robbywil
Posted 7:12 AM 23/9/08
Let me know when Playboy (or the Japanese equivalent) show up for earthquake education.
robbywil
Nintenboy01
Posted 7:09 AM 23/9/08
Hey Brian! Snoop around Nintendo HQ and see if they actually have any really good games under wraps for Wii.
Nintenboy01
RE-L
Posted 7:04 AM 23/9/08
I love the little kid saying Wow cool! Lol. So cute. Anyway, I think this would definitely help and it wouldn't hurt to try it in other countries if possible.
RE-L
aec007
Posted 7:02 AM 23/9/08
Boring video....
I was actually waiting for the whole thing (truck, camera guy, etc...) to be under an earthquake and the kids inside standing still.
aec007
kswiss19
Posted 7:46 AM 23/9/08
uh ok so it's supposed to be educational and yet they r not ducking and covering like ur supposed to during an earthquake. also earthquakes don't usually last that long. in rare cases an earthquake would last that long but that's RARE. Oh and fyi I live in California in the bay area. So I have experienced earthquakes first hand. I think any1 that has experienced and actual earthquake would agree w/ me on all of this.
kswiss19
TableZero
Posted 7:42 AM 23/9/08
That looks like more fun than a mechanical bull.
TableZero
Hitchcock
Posted 7:41 AM 23/9/08
They had these at the Oregon State Fair in the early 1990's.
Hitchcock
Curves
Posted 7:52 AM 23/9/08
Woo hoo, Brian is meeting the parents. ;)
Curves
berribrand
Posted 8:22 AM 23/9/08
Oh yea! Well, Mayor Villaragosa is planning the largest earthquake drill in US history with The Great Southern California Shakeout. I might try and organize one for my office just for the "fun" of it.
[www.shakeout.org]
berribrand
nbenko
Posted 8:36 AM 23/9/08
i'm just jealous that you get to casually to be tokyo for a few weeks. lucky.
nbenko
antitrust311
Posted 8:51 AM 23/9/08
So does this mean a Gizmodo reader meetup is imminent???? I hope so I missed the one last year in Tokyo.
antitrust311
Phishy
Posted 9:17 AM 23/9/08
I can hear the conversations now...
"Hey Billy-chan, I noticed your front teeth finally fell out."
"No, just took a ride in the earth quake simulator and busted them on the stupid table when the chair slid out!"
That is great. Edu-tainment at its finest, and its
mobile! I wish learning was this fun. Closest thing we have are those cheesy DUI simulators at the state fair. And they don't have force feedback (not like the earthquake simulator!)
Phishy
Dr.Blip
Posted 10:31 AM 23/9/08
@nbenko:
Yeah lucky... Brazil, Calif, Tokyo all in the same month. He just keep rubing it in our face...
You'd think someone traveling around so much would find something interesting to talk about ;) blam!!!
Dr.Blip
peacefulpony
Posted 1:29 PM 23/9/08
Where's Mothra?
peacefulpony
DeusExMach
Posted 12:52 AM 24/9/08
@BLAM:"The remnants of the summer heat linger like a mosquito; even as it rains you can feel."
that's... 5/7/11... Dude. That's a TERRIBLE haiku...
DeusExMach