Powerful Earthquake Outside Tokyo Measures 6.9 on the Richter Scale - 1

photo by Kim Mance Around 8pm last night as Tokyotopia's Honor Dargan stood on her 12th floor balcony in central Tokyo, things began to shake. She reports a strong earthquake that lasted about one minute. "It was one of the longest I have felt here and the wires outside were swinging to and fro - you could actually hear the building next to us kind of squeaking - very freaky!" she said.

"When Tokyoites turn off their gas and stand their doors open then you know this wasn't just an average everyday earthquake" added Dargan.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake at 7.1 magnitude on the richter scale, but local Japanese authorities measured the seismic event at 6.9. Though the earthquake was centered more than 200 miles away, and under the sea, it still rocked the entire Tokyo metro area. In 1989, a similarly intense earthquake with an epicenter outside San Francisco, California which measured 6.9 and lasted 15-seconds, killed 67 people, injured thousands, and caused destruction throughout the area. However, though Reuters reports trains were briefly halted, no reports of damage or injuries have come to light in Tokyo thus far.

Another Tokyo area resident, Shane Sakata of the online magazine Nihon Sun, described the quake as longer and more violent than others she's felt in her six years there.

"I experienced the October 2006 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Hawaii that caused all sorts of damage and destruction as well as tower and cell phone outages that lasted over fourteen hours in some areas of the state. While the Tokyo earthquake was bigger in magnitude it did not cause any interruption in power, internet, cell phone service or any of the other issues that I experienced in Hawaii" said Sakata.

Dargan, a long-time Tokyo resident and also a survivor of the Phuket Tsunami in 2004, credits Japanese infrastructure. "When you hear about similar size earthquakes in different parts of the world and see the destruction that is caused, it certainly shows you how well the seismic structures and engineers do here. The fact that there is no damage is a hat tip to them" she says.

This short YouTube video uploaded right after the earthquake shows items in the videographer's apartment being violently rocked back and forth.

Travelers planning a trip to Japan should be aware of its long history of seismic activity, and learn some standard safety procedures. Interior doorways are the safest place to take shelter during an earthquake, and some experts recommend propping opening a hotel door to make exiting easier if there is any sort of structural collapse. Developing a plan with your family or travel companions for a meeting point or evacuation during the event of an earthquake is also a good idea.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government publishes an English-language earthquake disaster preparedness manual online for visitors and expatriat residents. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo instructs that all citizens abroad cooperate fully with any evactuation procedures and orders.

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Kim Mance is Galavanting's editor-in-chief and host of Galavanting.tv. She's based in Chicago, IL and some of her other writing can be found at MarieClaire.com, The Huffington Post, and Babble. She just departed Japan last week from a visit to the capitol city of Tokyo.