Japan's Auto Manufacturing Hit by Quake Impact

Besides the obvious terrible tragedy of loss of life and property in Japan, there will be an impact on the automobile manufacturers. According to a story in Autoweek.com, the seven major Japanese companies have shut down production for at least a week.

Even though only Toyota has a plant in the affected areas, there are other issues, such as parts suppliers in the quake areas that are lost and problems with access to damaged ports. And, of course, the companies are giving families a chance to make sure their loved ones are OK or if they are lost, to make arrangements.

Even American plants that produce Japanese vehicles could be affected if they are unable to assemble cars because of missing parts.

It shows that a tragedy in one place affects many other places in the world today.

Earthquakes Really Shake You Up

Like many people, I discovered the horrible events in Japan last night on TV. The scenes of devastation are shocking and my heart goes out to the families who lost relatives, friends and property in the sudden tsunami waves.

As a Californian, I am used to earthquakes but not to tsunamis (at least the kind that have been ravaging the Japanese coast). I felt my first earthquake when I was in the 8th grade and we were, strangely enough, discussing earthquakes in Science class. I had lived in California for about a month then and it was quite upsetting.

I remember numerous quakes in the late 1970s that moved the hanging lamps and created news for a day or two. The big one was, of course, the Loma Prieta Earthquake of October 17, 1989. I was working at the Oakland Coliseum and when I felt the earth move, I ducked under my desk like a well-trained citizen. Nothing fell on me, but a thick fog of dust was shaken loose from the building's rafters. I later learned that 24 of the more than 800 windows in the circular building had broken.

At home, all of my bookcases lay flat on the floor, their contents spread around the room (along with the shards of the glass bowls that had rested atop them that morning). I recall lights out in big areas and taking a wild ride to get my new bride at her co-worker's house across the bay.

We recovered quickly, except for having a piece of the Bay Bridge broken (and the bridge closed for a month to fix it) and much worse, the Cypress Freeway structure that pancaked. I normally drove to work on that freeway (and had that very morning) but I excaped being flattened.

In California we all live with the reality that another big one could come at any time. Hope it's not anytime soon.