すぐに高い所へひなん

I saw this in a book I was reading to my nephew about earthquakes and volcanoes.

地震 (じしん) - Earthquake

津波 (つなみ) - Tsunami; A large wave 

すぐに - Immediately, At once, Right now

高い (たかい) - High, Tall

所　(ところ) - Place

へ - Grammar Particle used to denote direction

ひなん - Evacuation, Finding shelter, Taking refuge, Seeking safe haven

伊東市 (いとうし) - Itoushi; A City in Japan

Translation: Earthquake, Tsunami Immediately seek safe haven in a high place. Itou City.

The 漢字 for ひなん is 避難, my guess is this 漢字 is difficult for children to read concerning the importance of the information being addressed. And just as we have fire drills and, unfortunately, active shooter drills coastal cities in Japan have Earthquake and Tsunami drills.

When I was living in 四日市市, I would go to Nagoya on 日曜日 and take Japanese lessons at the 名古屋国際センター (なごやこくさい) Nagoya International Center. One 日曜日, we took a field trip to the disaster prevention office and participated in a couple of drills.

One was a platform that looked like a Japanese home kitchen with a hydraulic floor to simulate a 地震 with instructions on standing in doorways and getting under the table as cover from falling objects of ceiling. Then turning off the gas in case any tanks, hose or other equipment was damaged and causing a leak. The simulation was similar to riding a mechanical bull.

The second one was a maze with no lights and filled with smoke to simulate a burning building that you would had to escape from. In the dark, you had to feel the walls to find your way out and stay low to the ground away from the smoke. This was a simulation and I've been to a number of haunted houses, but this experience was terrifying. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack going through this maze. And as hard as it may be to believe, my cell phone didn't have a flashlight on it. Thankfully all phones have flashlights on them and in a situation like that, i would be able to turn it on to help find my way out.

And that experience was good because the 3/11 地震 that caused massive destruction and loss of life from a large 津波 also set off a wave of after shocks that shook my apartment pretty bad one night. I jumped up and stood in the doorway until it was over and turned off my gas after it was over. Luckily there wasn't any damage, because although it was strong, it was short.

I've been in a number of 地震 and they are not that fun, so I hope you will never have to experience them.

But if you do, remember this advice and to すぐに高い所へひなん.

それは以上です。

ジョシュア