A BRISTOL University lecturer has spoken of the moment a powerful earthquake struck Japan.

Dr Subhamoy Bhattacharya found real life dramatically coinciding with his academic work as he visited Japan to present research papers at a conference on urban earthquake engineering.

The 35-year-old civil engineering lecturer, who specialises in research into the effects of earthquakes on buildings, also met with engineers at construction companies.

He had just come back from a meeting in Tokyo when the 8.9-magnitude quake struck about 250 miles north-east of the city.

Dr Bhattacharya said: "I was on the 9th floor of a 20-storey hotel in Oimachi.

"I started to feel a shaking and immediately realised that it was an earthquake."

He said there had been an earthquake two days before and so he had already inquired about the evacuation route from the hotel.

Believing it could be another mild tremor Dr Bhattacharya began searching for his belongings.

He said: "As I stood up, the violent shaking started and I went near the window to look outside.

"The movement of the building crane nearby confirmed that this was a big earthquake.

"The duration of the earthquake was unusually long and continued for two to three minutes.

"There were plenty of aftershocks and creaking noises from the partition walls but nothing happened."

The earthquake, which struck at 2.46pm local time at a depth of 24km, triggered a tsunami that swept cars, ships and buildings into the sea and far inland.

The total death toll will not be known for some time but by last night police had already found up to 300 bodies in the port of Sendai, the city closest to the epicentre. About 90 more had been confirmed dead elsewhere, with at least 1,000 people missing.

The quake also led to the shutdown of the country's railway system and nuclear power stations.

Despite the chaos Dr Bhattacharya, who has been a regular traveller to Japan over the last six years, said things were soon returning to normal in Tokyo, largely thanks to Japanese engineering.

He said: "The PA system fitted in my room went into action and the elevator was switched off.

"It was difficult for me to understand what was going on but I understood that it was safer to be in the room rather than go outside.

"We were also told someone would come and rescue us.

"After about 30 minutes one person came to rescue us and took me through a staircase to the reception lobby. "The inspection technicians arrived and gave a green signal for the elevator to start operating.

"Within an hour everything was back to normal – the power, water and internet was back on, although there are still tremors now.

"It would be an understatement to say that lots of lives were saved by the building design.

"Japan has a long tradition of excellent research and implementing research findings. It shows it is possible to construct structures to withstand such a strong shaking."

Bristol University has an advanced lab where research is carried out to try and make buildings earthquake-resistant.

The Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering (BLADE), which cost £18.5 million and was opened by the Queen in 2005, enables researchers to simulate the effect of quakes on structures. It also hosts research into other areas of engineering including aerodynamics.

Yesterday's earthquake was the most powerful to hit Japan since records began 140 years ago.