Yesterday I posted about a cement wall that fell on a girl during a recent earthquake in the Osaka area, killing her. (The wall was not constructed using modern safety standards, and therefore was inherently unsafe. It stood much taller than the walls in the following photos.)

If you come from an area that doesn’t have a lot of cement walls, you might not understand why there was a cement wall along her walking path. It is common in many areas of Japan to use cement walls to separate boundaries. Yesterday after writing the post, I rode my bike to a shopping center. These are walls near my home, which is located in the downtown area. There are LOTS more walls than this. My neighborhood has many cement walls.

Constructions such as these (as well as trees, powerlines, heavy roof shingles, and so on) are why it is considered safer to stay inside during a heavy quake than to head outside.

Just outside my home.

The path leading to the street.

Out on the street where cars drive.

More walls…

And more….

There are so very many walls in my neighborhood, it’s impossible for me to take a photos of them all! So, of course stay away from walls (and other heavy structures that may fall on you) during an earthquake.