As I was prepping my next post on my current trip to Manado, the shaking of my hotel bed abruptly interrupted me. Pushed tight against the wall my first thought was that my neighbours might be getting a little rowdy. I was considering banging on the wall when I realized this was more than a little fun next door.
I just experienced my first earthquake.
Last week, Manado, Northern Sulawesi, and other North Eastern islands of Indonesia experienced a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that initiated tsunami warnings in the area. Luckily, those warnings did not come to fruition. Tonight we experienced a 7.0.
I am currently lying in wait for what they call an aftershock. In the mean time I will try my hardest to describe the incredibly disorientating experience of an earthquake. In the movies I have seen actors get jostled back and forth as plaster falls from walls. My earthquake experience was nothing near as dramatic as that. The unexpectedness of my feeling came from the ocean like shaking of my bed as if I was cresting waves in a small boat. The ups and downs were paired with back and forths, and an overwhelming feeling of spinning.
I had just spoken to a friend here in Manado yesterday about the earthquake last week. She was in a microlette at the time, a small local bus, and said she didn’t feel anything but saw panic in the streets as people ran out of buildings with small crumbling pieces falling off of them. All reports I’ve heard say everyone was fine and damage minimal, if any. I don’t want to exaggerate the scene by any means. The point of mentioning this conversation is only to talk about where it led.
Are we prepared?
I don’t ask that in a way to mean do we have an emergency kit in the closet and lots of canned food to survive on in our bomb shelter. What I mean is do we know how to act, react, and even help. Where do we go? What do we do? How can we help others? All great questions and with a few first aid and emergency responding courses under my belt I would hope with all honesty I could remain calm and proactive.
What I learnt tonight, as my bed turned into a kayak cresting the break of a wave in the ocean, was that my delayed and confused response was not one of a prepared person.
I’ve checked-in with my colleagues around the city and we think things have settled down for the night. The stats are as follows: a 7.0 magnitude quake, a 6.8 magnitude quake, no pending tsunami warning, and no known damage.
Lets hope we are good for the night and this recent trend of earthquakes is short lived. I am also hoping next time I can react better and faster to re-orient myself and get outside. My personal reaction time was definitely disappointing tonight.
I just experienced my first earthquake.
Last week, Manado, Northern Sulawesi, and other North Eastern islands of Indonesia experienced a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that initiated tsunami warnings in the area. Luckily, those warnings did not come to fruition. Tonight we experienced a 7.0.
I am currently lying in wait for what they call an aftershock. In the mean time I will try my hardest to describe the incredibly disorientating experience of an earthquake. In the movies I have seen actors get jostled back and forth as plaster falls from walls. My earthquake experience was nothing near as dramatic as that. The unexpectedness of my feeling came from the ocean like shaking of my bed as if I was cresting waves in a small boat. The ups and downs were paired with back and forths, and an overwhelming feeling of spinning.
I had just spoken to a friend here in Manado yesterday about the earthquake last week. She was in a microlette at the time, a small local bus, and said she didn’t feel anything but saw panic in the streets as people ran out of buildings with small crumbling pieces falling off of them. All reports I’ve heard say everyone was fine and damage minimal, if any. I don’t want to exaggerate the scene by any means. The point of mentioning this conversation is only to talk about where it led.
Are we prepared?
I don’t ask that in a way to mean do we have an emergency kit in the closet and lots of canned food to survive on in our bomb shelter. What I mean is do we know how to act, react, and even help. Where do we go? What do we do? How can we help others? All great questions and with a few first aid and emergency responding courses under my belt I would hope with all honesty I could remain calm and proactive.
What I learnt tonight, as my bed turned into a kayak cresting the break of a wave in the ocean, was that my delayed and confused response was not one of a prepared person.
I’ve checked-in with my colleagues around the city and we think things have settled down for the night. The stats are as follows: a 7.0 magnitude quake, a 6.8 magnitude quake, no pending tsunami warning, and no known damage.
Lets hope we are good for the night and this recent trend of earthquakes is short lived. I am also hoping next time I can react better and faster to re-orient myself and get outside. My personal reaction time was definitely disappointing tonight.