I was in a major earthquake yesterday. Really! You may have heard of the Christchurch earthquake. That's where I live.
What an experience.
The earthquake struck at 4.35 am, so I was deep asleep at the time. I can remember sitting bolt upright and thinking "What the . . . ?" and throwing the bedcovers back. Then, since I am a well-trained kiwi, my next memory is of already being in my bedroom doorway. I don't remember getting there or opening the door. The door was swinging at me and I was holding on to the doorframe for balance. It went on for ages. Such sharp, violent shaking. I've been in earthquakes before, of course. Smaller ones. Ones with more distant epicentres. Those types of earthquakes have a 'rolling' motion. My memory of yesterday's earthquake is already starting to dim (understandably - I was still mostly asleep) but it was definitely sharp and violent, like being inside a dog chew toy that is being shaken about.
When it finally stopped, I went to the living room and turned the light on (I was one of the lucky few who didn't lose power). I looked for my cat - she was frozen under the sofa, looking at me. Alarms were going off in the business park around the corner - a scary sound. I saw that stuff had fallen down - I picked it up. Then I knelt down on the floor and gasped for a bit, and looked at the cat again. She was still frozen. I felt cold - I went and put my dressing gown on.
About this time a neighbour came to knock on my door to see if I was OK. He had looked in on everyone else on the property and next door, and everyone was OK.
Then I thought I'd look up the epicentre and strength of the earthquake, so I turned on my computer. No internet. I turned on the TV. No cable, and my TV isn't connected to an aerial. While I was doing this, I txted my boyfriend. He said he was OK, but he had no power. I quickly lost contact with him (his cellphone is in the process of dying, and runs out of batteries very quickly) but at least I knew he was OK.
There were some aftershocks. I stood outside in my dressing gown in the dark for a while, just looking at the stars. Orion had risen since the evening before. It was surreal out there - even though dawn was a way off, all the birds were singing because they had been woken up and they couldn't go back to sleep.
My cat went missing. I found her a while later in my bed huddling under the covers. I tried listening to my wind-up radio, and found to my annoyance that it isn't such a handy item after all, as it only takes about a minute of radio playing to run the battery out and then it needs to be wound up again. I txted my parents at about 7 o'clock asking for info, because I still didn't know anything about the quake. They didn't reply (still asleep) so I got into bed with the cat to keep her company. I got up again at 8.30 to ring my parents. They hadn't heard the news, so when I said I had been through a major earthquake, Mum said "You WHAT?!" They went away to turn the TV and computer on, then called me back when they had more info. They told me about extensive damage in the central city, but it seemed so unbelievable to me, because my place was fine.
I read a book for a while. Then I mowed the lawns, because it was a lovely day and why not? Nothing better to do.
The internet and TV came back on early afternoon and I finally saw the damage. That's when I realised that I had not just been through an earthquake, I had been through a MAJOR earthquake. I'm still coming to terms with it, that large parts of the central city will have to be rebuilt, and this will be affecting us for a long time to come.
I have food, and I have water, although I have to boil it before use. Sewerage and waste water systems have been compromised, so I'm not supposed to flush my toilet or take showers, which is kinda gross but to be expected. I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday at the soonest (but unfortunately I have a work laptop with me, so I have to work anyway . . . such is 21st century life).
And, yeah, I can now say that I have experienced a major disaster.
How was YOUR weekend?
What an experience.
The earthquake struck at 4.35 am, so I was deep asleep at the time. I can remember sitting bolt upright and thinking "What the . . . ?" and throwing the bedcovers back. Then, since I am a well-trained kiwi, my next memory is of already being in my bedroom doorway. I don't remember getting there or opening the door. The door was swinging at me and I was holding on to the doorframe for balance. It went on for ages. Such sharp, violent shaking. I've been in earthquakes before, of course. Smaller ones. Ones with more distant epicentres. Those types of earthquakes have a 'rolling' motion. My memory of yesterday's earthquake is already starting to dim (understandably - I was still mostly asleep) but it was definitely sharp and violent, like being inside a dog chew toy that is being shaken about.
When it finally stopped, I went to the living room and turned the light on (I was one of the lucky few who didn't lose power). I looked for my cat - she was frozen under the sofa, looking at me. Alarms were going off in the business park around the corner - a scary sound. I saw that stuff had fallen down - I picked it up. Then I knelt down on the floor and gasped for a bit, and looked at the cat again. She was still frozen. I felt cold - I went and put my dressing gown on.
About this time a neighbour came to knock on my door to see if I was OK. He had looked in on everyone else on the property and next door, and everyone was OK.
Then I thought I'd look up the epicentre and strength of the earthquake, so I turned on my computer. No internet. I turned on the TV. No cable, and my TV isn't connected to an aerial. While I was doing this, I txted my boyfriend. He said he was OK, but he had no power. I quickly lost contact with him (his cellphone is in the process of dying, and runs out of batteries very quickly) but at least I knew he was OK.
There were some aftershocks. I stood outside in my dressing gown in the dark for a while, just looking at the stars. Orion had risen since the evening before. It was surreal out there - even though dawn was a way off, all the birds were singing because they had been woken up and they couldn't go back to sleep.
My cat went missing. I found her a while later in my bed huddling under the covers. I tried listening to my wind-up radio, and found to my annoyance that it isn't such a handy item after all, as it only takes about a minute of radio playing to run the battery out and then it needs to be wound up again. I txted my parents at about 7 o'clock asking for info, because I still didn't know anything about the quake. They didn't reply (still asleep) so I got into bed with the cat to keep her company. I got up again at 8.30 to ring my parents. They hadn't heard the news, so when I said I had been through a major earthquake, Mum said "You WHAT?!" They went away to turn the TV and computer on, then called me back when they had more info. They told me about extensive damage in the central city, but it seemed so unbelievable to me, because my place was fine.
I read a book for a while. Then I mowed the lawns, because it was a lovely day and why not? Nothing better to do.
The internet and TV came back on early afternoon and I finally saw the damage. That's when I realised that I had not just been through an earthquake, I had been through a MAJOR earthquake. I'm still coming to terms with it, that large parts of the central city will have to be rebuilt, and this will be affecting us for a long time to come.
I have food, and I have water, although I have to boil it before use. Sewerage and waste water systems have been compromised, so I'm not supposed to flush my toilet or take showers, which is kinda gross but to be expected. I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday at the soonest (but unfortunately I have a work laptop with me, so I have to work anyway . . . such is 21st century life).
And, yeah, I can now say that I have experienced a major disaster.
How was YOUR weekend?
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