At first I heard a rumble getting louder and louder. Within about 5 seconds tons of things flashed through my head, Oh my God what is that? A truck crashed in to the building, wait... there are no trains near here, OH MY GOD IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE! I grabbed Haleigh in a football hold and started running towards the front of the store. There was another woman there who was stuck in her tracks so I yelled "GO OUTSIDE NOW!! EARTHQUAKE!" I wasn't panicked I just wanted to get us out and away from the building. On my way out I could see the ceiling tiles jumping around and the butterfly mobiles we have swaying back and forth. Everyone in the stores surrounding us was headed outside too. People were echoing each other 'an earthquake? An earthquake!' After a few seconds the shaking stopped. I feel like it lasted forever and just a second all at the same time. In the moment it felt like it was lasting forever, afterwards it felt like it was so quick. It was terrifying!!! I didn't have a whole lot of time to really think. I just did. A few seconds after it stopped everyone started going back in side. I turned to the customer and said to her "Do you know what protocol is? I have no idea." She said she had no idea either so we waited a minute or so then went inside. I had no idea what to do. I went inside and sat down, then freaked out. I am one of those people that handles things when they come but later freaks out about it. That's what I did. I started shaking and had tears in my eyes. I couldn't put Haleigh down because I was so worried. Right away I got a call from my mother, who was a half an hour a way and she felt it - she was okay, so were my sister and cousin who were in school, my grandmother called - she was okay, and Tyrone text me. While I was texting back Tyrone I learned the the epicenter was right near him, maybe 5 miles away. He said he was okay but I didn't believe him. I kept asking. Thank God everyone is okay! I called Tyrone because I needed to hear his voice and be sure he was okay, he was of course, I told him where the epicenter was and that it was a 6.0 - which is what it was first stated as being. He couldn't believe that he was where the center of it was! These things aren't suppose to happen here. The only other time I've felt an earthquake was 7 or so years ago and all it was, was a tremble. I wasn't even sure that it had been an earthquake, this time was different. Scary. I am terrified of aftershocks and what could happen. Needless to say Haleigh will be sleeping in our room tonight!
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GRRRR i tried to leave a comment it says i dont have access to this page?!? :-/
ReplyDeletei remember my first big earthqauke - it was scary and interesting too - because i watched the windows roll/grund roll - i know how you feel **hugs** i hope your okay now
Amber
Being on the west coast, I'm on a fault line. We have earthquake drills in the schools. I don't know what they do in the drills now, but back in grade school, we get on our knees under our desk, curling/leaning all the way forward/down and using our arms to cover our heads. On the news there are always mixed reviews... I grew up knowing you stand in a doorway if you have nowhere else to go. But then people on the news or that you talk to will say no, the door could swing and hit you. It's never occured to me to go outside before lol. The ground could buckle or a falling building could find you. Then again, I couldn't want to be in the building that's falling. ANYWAY... earthquakes off the coast, or in either WA or CA are often felt in Portland... so I'm used to small vibrations. I haven't been in one that caused too much damage anywhere near where I stood, but it's only a matter of time. I'm not looking forward to "the big one" that distroys Portland and causes a tsunami like in Japan those few months ago. BLAH. But I'm glad nothing fell on your head. :)
ReplyDeletePS- this is just me (J) It wont let me comment from my account either. Psh.