Japanese Twitch Streamer Briefly Interrupted By Earthquake

Yesterday’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake off Honshu island, Japan, sent waves as far as Tokyo, where it rocked a humble Twitch streamer playing Pokemon.

Kai Hamano, whose streams as Kaihama, was sorting through his inventory in the new Pokemon game when his bedroom started shaking. “What the fuck?” he asked his viewers. “Oh my god, it’s going to be big,” he said. His viewers begged him to run away. One suggested that he escape Japan with a Gundam. (The quake happens at 3:59:00 here.)

It was big. The natural disaster had hit off the coast of Northeast Japan, 241km away from Hamano’s home in central Tokyo. 3m-high waves ravaged Japan’s eastern shores and a tsunami advisory was issued. Fifteen people were injured.

All of this didn’t perturb Hamano too much. After confirming online that there was, indeed, an earthquake, he went back to streaming Pokemon. Fisherman Ernest challenged him to a battle.