Bexhill man in Japan earthquake scare

Musician Toby Tramaseur, 30, was on a bus travelling from Tokyo to Yokohama when tremors struck.

The bus was on a high bridge and as it was thrown around moved ever closer to the edge - and Toby found himself looking straight down at the sea.

Meanwhile his family back home in Brassey Road knew nothing of the danger until it was already passed.

Dad Nick said: “Toby was in Tokyo with the BBC Philharmonic. They had a very near disaster while the earthquake was taking place because they were on a bridge in the bus going to a concert hall for rehearsal.

“The bus started getting thrown around...then everything stopped and the whole bridge started moving. It’s just the worst thing - you are looking over the edge as the bus gets closer and closer to the edge. And there is nothing you can do about it. Looking down you can see the sea and you think - that’s it if we fall through.

“He was a bit shaken.”

Nick and wife Dru did not hear about the earthquake that morning until a friend rang to ask if they had seen the news.

“We thought - ah, that doesn’t look very good,” said Nick.

The couple were however able to find information quickly from the internet and frequent updates on Twitter made them realise their son was safe.

Nick added: “It took them nine hours to get back and they had to walk the last mile because the traffic was so solid.”

Toby stayed while the rest of the BBC Philharmonic flew home because his wife is Japanese and they had wanted to be there a few days more. Her mother lives near the site of the nuclear reactors which were began meltdown soon after the earthquake.

They are due back home tomorrow.

Toby is a former choir boy for St Peter’s church, and was a pupil at St Richard’s catholic college. He went on to study at Lewes music school and is a violinist who worked with the London Philharmonic orchestra for four years before joining the BBC Philharmonic.

His family back home in Brassey Road