Caught in Tokyo Skytree: Indian Prof Recounts Frightful Quake's 10-Hour Stranding

Sudipta Das, an assistant professor in the Japanese department at Visva-Bharati, witnessed the terrible earthquake that struck Japan on Monday firsthand.

Two hours before the earthquake that struck central Japan's west coastline and left at least fifty-five people dead, Das, his wife Sangita, and their four-month-old daughter Sanvika, visited Tokyo Skytree on Monday while on a research assignment at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

Das described how they were stranded inside the Skytree for at least ten hours following the earthquake to The Telegraph over the phone from his home in Japan.

In August 2022, I moved to Tokyo, Japan, for a two-year research assignment at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, funded by a scholarship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). My daughter Sanvika was born in Fuchu City, which is close to the university campus, four months ago," he stated.

"We were going to celebrate the New Year by going to the well-known Tokyo Skytree on Monday morning. We arrived there by 2:00 PM," he remarked, pointing out that thousands of people had already visited. "You can see the entire Tokyo from the Skytree, which is 634 metres tall."

According to Das, the tremors began about 430 p.m.

"For our safety, the security guards and officials declared in less than a minute that all elevators would be shut off and that nobody could leave the tower. I heard the announcement while I was taking pictures in the tower at a height of 455 meters," he stated. "I imagined the worst."

"There were tremors more than once or twice. Over a six-hour period, there were at least forty separate earth tremors. Das reported, "People were screaming in fear and clinging to anything they could grab onto."

He acknowledged that both he and his spouse were anxious. "It's beyond words to express," he uttered. "We were stuck at a height of 455 metres from the ground and the earth was shaking."

They learned about 8 p.m. that it would take some time to descend from the height because people would be evacuated one at a time by the authorities.

"Finally, when we stepped out of the tower and touched the ground, it was midnight and the date had changed," Das continued. "I saw people speaking on the phone, taking news of their relatives and close ones, asking if they were safe."

Though it took some time for the services to be restored, they traveled to Tokyo City in order to take the train.

At 1.30am, we could finally go home. "After returning home, I learned about the events in Japan, including the deaths of thousands of people in places like Ishikawa, Toyama, and Yamagata, and the displacement of thousands more from their homes," Das said.

He gave a few of his friends and coworkers who lived in those areas a call. "Thankfully, they were safe."

Even though he and his loved ones were safe, the assistant professor claimed that he was still in shock. "Yes, I did not lose my home, I have food and water, but I can't forget the feeling of almost witnessing death from close quarters," he stated.

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