Japan earthquake: PM says rescue teams in ‘race against time’ after earthquake kills 13
‘Biggest quake I have felt in 75 years’ – resident tells BBCpublished at 04:51 BST
Chie Kobayashi
BBC News in Japan
Hiroko Ogata, 75, runs a popular omelet rice restaurant in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture.
She was in the restaurant, which had closed for the day, when the earthquake hit.
“All of sudden there was a big jolt, and I was surprised and scared,” she tells the BBC.
“I have lived here for 75 years, but I have never experienced such a big quake. I thought I would die.”
“I went under one of the tables right away, but the table moved largely towards right, left, right, left… with me!”
Bowls and glasses from the kitchen shelf started falling and shattering on the floor, she added.
Today she’s picking up the pieces at her restaurant – though continuing aftershocks are making her nervous.
“The whole place is messy, and I don’t know where to stand.
But we have to earn our living by restarting our restaurant as soon as possible, so I am cleaning the place today,” she says.
“A little I work, then we have another aftershock… so it is going so slowly. If we keep having this many aftershocks It will be very stressful.”
Image source, JIJI Press / AFP via Getty Images