Tweet of the Week #80: Cats Spooked by Thunder But Completely Ignore Earthquake Alarms

Unable to travel further than their local grocery stores due to the state of emergency, folks in Japan were in for a pretty boring Golden Week aka, gaman week. Naturally, Mother Nature decided to spice things up a bit.

Two quakes, serious enough to trigger the emergency alarm system on our phones, rattled Eastern Japan on the evening of May 4 and around 2 a.m. on May 6. Thankfully, neither tremors caused any injuries or damages—besides scaring us half to death with the terrifying J-Alert warning sound. 

https://twitter.com/0Ziah/status/1257322843018129411?s=20

地震（じしん）です！！　地震です！！　地震です！！

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“EARTHQUAKE ALERT!! EARTHQUAKE ALERT!! EARTHQUAKE ALERT!!”

Launched in 2007, the J-Alert is a warning system the Japanese government uses to send emergency information about earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, or ballistic missiles to the general population. The J-Alert’s earthquake warning sound is known to send shivers down the spine of people living in Japan.

Cats, however, just couldn’t care less.

緊急地震速報の爆音アラームにおろおろする私を「なにしとるん」みたいに見ているうちの猫さま。#緊急地震速報 pic.twitter.com/lgqfPAvdxo

— おかだともこ/40代からライター目指したらどうなるのか実験中 (@okadatomoko75) May 5, 2020

緊急地震速報（きんきゅうじしんそくほう）の爆音（ばくおん）アラームにおろおろする私（わたし）を「なにしとるん」みたいに見（み）ているうちの猫（ねこ）さま。

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“My cat is looking at me flustered like ‘Whacha’ doing?’ while the emergency earthquake alarm roars.”

Run for you nine lives

As if shaking the ground wasn’t fun enough, the weather turned to a pretty epic thunderstorm on Wednesday night in the Kanto area. Thunder and lightning lit up the sky like strobe lights on a dance floor. During the storm, pet owners shared videos and pictures of their furry friends’ reactions to the window-rattling thunder that made even us jump.

https://twitter.com/chan_mosa81/status/1257915823919820802?s=20

家（いえ）のことも終（お）わり柏餅（かしわもち）を買（か）いに行（い）こうとしたら…絶妙（ぜつみょう）なタイミングで雨（あめ）が降（ふ）ってきました

柏餅の神様（かみさま）は私には食（た）べさせたくないようです(p_q*)ｼｸｼｸ

まりりん、カミナリにビビり避難中（ひなんちゅう）

今（いま）までこんなことなかったのに

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“After taking care of the house, I was about to go buy kashiwa mochi… Then the rain started to fall as if the kashiwa mochi gods wouldn’t let me eat any. Maririn is currently hiding, spooked by the thunder. They’ve never done that before.”

It’s every cat for themselves in this house.

さっき雷が鳴った時のネコォの様子⚡️#ねこ #猫 #カミナリ #雷 #名古屋 pic.twitter.com/xC8VhqTEfp

— ネコォ＠保護猫フリースペース (@WorkspaceNeCOo) May 6, 2020

さっき雷（かみなり）が鳴（な）った時（とき）のネコォの様子（ようす）

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“How cats reacted to the lightning strike:”

These Bengali cats weren’t any braver.

https://twitter.com/Tama27u0916/status/1258030625321172992?s=20

カミナリにビビるベンガル猫達（ねこたち）

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“Bengal cats scared by the thunder.”

How to form causative verbs in Japanese

The Japanese causative form isn’t too hard to conjugate, but understanding how it works can give you a few headaches at first. 

Basically, you conjugate a verb into the causative form when making or letting someone do something (or preventing someone from doing something). 

• るverbs: る becomes させる.
• うverbs: the last vowel う changes like you would for negative verbs + せる
• する becomes させる
• くる becomes こさせる

神様は私には食べさせたくない = “The gods don’t let me eat.”

明日（あした）休（やす）ませてください = “Let me have a day off tomorrow.”

Vocabulary

さっき雷（かみなり）が鳴（な）った時（とき）のネコォの様子（ようす）

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