Rugby-Bok skipper Kolisi laughs off earthquake scare at team hotel
By Nick Said
FUKUROI CITY, Oct 3 (Reuters) - An excited Siya Kolisi says he felt the earth move at South Africa’s Rugby World Cup team hotel near Omaezaki but joked he thought it was one of his team mates snoring.
The Springbok captain revealed he was woken by the 4.1 magnitude earthquake in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a seismic event that has been confirmed by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
"I felt it!" a beaming Kolisi told reporters on Thursday. "Cheslin (Kolbe) was sleeping and snoring so I thought it was him.
"It was something different and I have never felt anything like that. I was excited and scared at the same time."
According to the JMA, Japan has around 2,000 earthquakes each year, though the number can fluctuate wildly, with 27 in the last week alone.
None in the previous seven days have been more than 4.5 on the Richter Scale, which is considered "light".
South Africa’s hotel is just a few kilometres from the Hamaoka nuclear power plant, which was completely shut down in 2011 at the request of former Japan prime minister Naoto Kan.
Experts had warned there was an 87 per cent chance of an 8.0 magnitude or higher event hitting the area in the following 30 years.
An earthquake of that size would likely cause major destruction to buildings and potentially a catastrophic tsunami. (Reporting By Nick Said Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
