Saturday, April 14, 2007

Day 52: EARTHQUAKE!!

You've been through the toughest days of the week. You've been getting to your office at 7 am and leaving at 9 pm the earliest for 3 days. Luckily, your boss suddenly decides he's done with you (no pun intended) and let's you go at 6:30. Oh, joy! You fly home, eager to perform your usual stuff: chew the fat with your significant other, watch your tivoed shows, read a couple of chapters of 'Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix' (to get ready for the theatrical release, you know), have a bite for dinner and finally be able to happily crash on your bed at a wonderful, nice, regular 10 pm.

Suddenly something startles you up. Your body has reacted way faster than your brain, 'cause in nano seconds it detected the danger before your consciuousness realized your bed is swaying side to side. Darkness is total. A blackout has occured. Having lived in this city for so long, you know what's going on. All your brain cells scream EARTHQUAKE!

You feel your stomach congeal and your mouth goes as dry as the Sahara. Trying as hard as you can not to panic, you call for your significant other, trying not to sound as scared as you really are: "Honey, there's an earthquake!". Peaceful snores is all the answer you get. You call again, louder, almost shouting: "Hon, wake up. There's an earthquake!!". The mumbled growl of disconfort rushes you to get up while the teluric movement gets stronger, knowing that any moment it might get down to the terrifying decision between staying heroicly or leaving to see another day, perfectly aware of how long it wil take to evacuate a 4th floor. You throw the blankets aside, grab the pijamas' lappels and shake your partner as hard as you can, yelling at the top of your voice: "WAKE UP, YOU BLOKE, THERE'S AN EARTHQUAKE IN PROGRESS!!".


Finally, you are able to get a faint response. A weary eye looks vapidly at your ashed-white face while a sleepy voice asks: "Honey? What's going on?". You let go of the pijamas' lappels, take a deep breath, and answer: "Nah, nothing, Baby. It's over already".

The accounts hereby recorded took place last Friday, April 13th, at 12:42 am, local time, when a 6.3 Richter scale earthquake stroke Mexico City. I spent the 40 seconds it lasted trying to wake up my husband, who spent the whole event sleeping like a baby. I solemnly swear that next time, I'll scream like mad and run for dear life!!

P.S.: This is NOT my building. It's an example of some damages caused by the earthquake at Condesa neighborhood. No person was damaged or injuried in the creation of this post. (Photo taken from "El Universal" newspaper, all rights reserved)

3 comments:

Miao 妙 said...

Sometimes when there are earthquakes in Indonesia, we can feel the tremors over here in Singapore! Once I was in my office when suddenly I felt my chair moving gently by itself, and for a moment I almost thought it was possessed by some supernatural being, and then I realised that the entire building was shaking. Quite an experience, I'd say, only on the condition that the tremors are not strong enough to devastate even the infrastructure in Singapore!

Jingo said...

The most exciting natural disaster in the last few years in England was a twister... and I didn't even witness it.

Surely in the event of an earthquake, you're meant to stay indoors and dive under a table or sumthin? Finally, I can put to use some of the geography I've learnt...

The Usual Stuff said...

miao: I hope you never get to experience the kind of 'quakes we get striken by here. I hope the infrastructure there is better than here. Is it?

jingo: indeed you are suppossed to look for a 'secure spot'. I promise I'll post a wonderful picture of people leaving their buildings in their pijamas. So long for 'Civil Protection' procedures.