On this day something happened

[griffin]

The memorial in New York is worth a visit, was there in September 2019 a few days before the anniversary. It’s a very moving tribute. The first time I visited NY in 2007 and visited the area, still being cleared, it was terribly upsetting to be in the place where such horror occurred.

I was in NYC in June 2007 (on the way to Rhode Island), but only got to within eye-sight of the World Trade Center site, on a tour bus one block away... and if I had stayed another day, I would have gone to have a closer look.
Even though it was almost 6 years after the destruction of the buildings, and the site was cleared by May 2002 (10 months later), bureaucracy and committees dragged out the beginning of construction of the new buildings for 5 years. Aside from Tower 7 which wasn't on the actual WTC site, nothing significant started on the actual site until 2006, and took another 5 years until the first above-ground structures were completed. So even if I had have been at the site on that trip in June 2007, I probably wouldn't have seen much more than what I did from a block away.
(the couple of photos that I managed to take as the tour bus was driving past showed a fair bit of debris on the site, with a number of cranes, so they had definitely started doing something... it would just be another 4 years after that until the memorial site would be ready)

[Paulbot]

I remember I couldn’t get very close in 2007 or 2009 but by 2009 there were viewing areas and memorial walls with the names of the victims.

[Tha_Phantom]

I saw this tribute to the victims while I was on a NY tour bus in 2012.


As for the actual day itself, I was too young at the time to understand the gravity of it. I remember waking up on September 12 and instead of my morning cartoons there was news coverage.

[Seraphim Prime]

Like Griffin has said, I'm surprised it was so relatively early our time - friends talk about watching The West Wing that night and at first thinking it was a stunning twist, the moment was just so surreal.

I personally remember waking up the next morning to headlines of "Attack on America" and thinking it was overblown until I saw the footage.

Classes that day in school were pretty distracted most of the morning - our maths class was basically taken up purely on discussions around what was happening.

I went to America a year later on a school tour and it was clear the wounds were still tender - I stayed for a couple of nights with a Las Vegas firefighter who's crew had volunteered to travel across the country to New York to help - and flight screenings and check ins were unscrupulous.

I personally visited New York years later in 2015 and the WTC plaza was still under construction, but it was pleasing to see that life had returned to the area. Freedom Tower had just opened and I was able to visit the memorial and museum on the grounds of the original towers. It's a stark and humbling place to be.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I was working two jobs at the time and one of them started at 5 am in the morning. I turned on the TV as I got ready for work and saw the footage and thought, "Damn thats one heck of an accident, someone can't fly a plane" and went to work. I worked by myself at a petrol station and the whole time people kept coming in and saying "something whacky is happening in America! and me being in customer service mode was just "yeah, right hey?" but I had no idea as I had no access to any up to date news source.
When I finished work at 12, I went home and the TV was still broadcasting the same footage and the better half gave me an update as to what was going on.
Dang thought I. Went off to second job that started at 4pm and people were talking about it all there too.

It was a confusing day for me, but I remember it quite vividly.

When I caught up on everything that was going on, I thought, this will change the world. I also wondered what America would do about it.
Thinking back on it, GW Bush was in a bad spot. With that many deaths, people wouldn't have accepted him just going "Bummer." The US govt would have had to find an enemy and do something about it. I'm glad I wasn't in his shoes at that time, I don't know what I would do if faced with the same circumstances (although I'm sure I'd have better informational resources if I were the US president).

[Skyfire]

I was working two jobs at the time

If Mt Fuji blew up, would anyone in Tokyo notice? Watch out for that karoshi, Tets!

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

If Mt Fuji blew up, would anyone in Tokyo notice? Watch out for that karoshi, Tets!

Ha ha ha! thanks for the concern, but at that time I was in Australia, studying at university. In my currentl position I made it plainly clear that when there is work to do I don't mind pulling together with the team and doing overtime, but if I have no task to do, then I will not just chill at the office. i see too much inefficieny in Japanese work places and will not be a part of that (whenever possible).

As for your first question, the last eruption of Mt Fuji in 1707 was noticed by those in Edo, now Tokyo. Now I suspect it would be noticed as the big earners, the owners of businesses and politicians would find it inconvenient going to the surrounding area for their hot spring visits.