A pushed up manhole!
On October 23, 2004 at 5:56 PM I was sitting in a parked car when it suddenly began to shake back and forth. Looking out the window I could see swaying lampposts and signs. It was an earthquake. I've experienced dozens of such tremors in Japan to date, but they were mostly in the area east of Tokyo. Niigata is Northwest of Tokyo and earthquakes are not so common.
From the radio I learned that the epicenter was Ojiya, a small but important city because it is right on the main road and rail line going to Tokyo. I knew that my friends in Tokamachi, a town 20 kilometers to the west of Ojiya must have experienced some damage.
My home is about 60 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake - far enough so that there was no harm to either my family or damage to the property. Only one picture fell from the wall. But the third shock was strong enough to drive us outside the house! Three major shocks caused most of the damage near the epicenter.
The next day I hitchhiked to Nagaoka, a large city only 16 kilometers from Ojiya. Here are some of the scenes I witnessed.
I talked to folks who were camping out in parks and parking lots. Their attitude was upbeat. Most of the houses in Nagaoka were not damaged too bad but because they lost water and 
After that I went to see my close friends, Keiji and Miyoko and their 5 children who live in Tokamachi city, about 20 kilometers on the other side of Ojiya. The closest way to Tokamachi from Nagaoka is through Ojiya, but it was impossible to travel that way. The roads were all broken. So I had to take a circular route and approach it from the West. It was a miracle that I found a car of a young couple who live in Tokamachi and were heading back home! They were in another city to see a movie the evening of the earthquake. When they tried to return home the normal route through Ojiya, because the roads were already closed they could proceed no further that night. So together with them I pioneered a circular route through the mountains that was still open. We knew we had to cross at least one long bridge that spanned the Shinano River - the longest river in Japan - to get to Tokamachi. Thankfully it was undamaged. But there were many cracks and even a few holes in the pavement we had to watch out for. All of these were already marked off. Sometimes we had to slow down to a crawl to go over cracks and holes.
Keiji and Miyoko in Tokamachi knew I would try to come but were surprised I was able to make it at all! Keiji works in Mitsuke, a city close to Nagaoka but on the opposite side away from Ojiya. Even there he said that it was difficult to stand during the earthquake. He said he traveled a very wide circular route through Nagano to drive back home, and so when I told him the way I came, he was glad because that meant he could go back to work a much shorter route the next day.
The Kuriyama family had water damage because their 3 large aquarium tanks fell over during the third tremor spilling nearly 500 liters of salt water on the floor and their computer! At the same time the lights went out due to a power outage, and so the fish perished in the dark. It is already dark at 6:30PM this time of year. When I arrived the next day, electricity had been restored but not water. We drank survival water supplied by the city. They still had cooking gas because they use propane gas from bottles outside the house.
I spent last night at Tokamachi but couldn't sleep so well because aftershocks continue. After the third shake I decided to put on my clothes and sleep in my close in case I had to make an escape. The Kuriyama family all slept on the first floor in the living room. I was the only one upstairs. There was hardly anybody else in Tokamachi that actually slept in their house! They were mostly outside in their car or camped out in tents. Thanks to God it was not too cold yet!