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)
