22nd Septmber, 2021. It began like any other day in lockdown, me logging in to work from home, on a cold, grey day. Promise of sun later in the day. First meeting ended about 5 minutes past 9am. I remember thinking: goodness, its only the first meeting of the day and it already went overtime. What a promising way to start.
And then, it happened. About 12 minutes after 9, my table began to shake. Slowly at first, and then a little more visibly. I ran into the adjacent room, and felt the table there. Yep it moved too. No sound. Then called the family and all of us took shelter under the big wooden table in the dining room.
Now we could really feel the shakes, the entire house was shaking. I was surprisingly calm on the outside, but I could hear my heart beat fast. Mentally I was thinking what I need to take with us if we had to run out. Phone ,wallet, Ids, mask, jacket...It was 30 seconds of soft adrenaline pump.
I had read about earthquakes and what one needs to do in case one hits. And distinctly remembered taking shelter under a strong table, to protect from falling objects. And we had known there will be aftershocks too, in many cases the aftershocks are more powerful than the first wave.
Once the tremors ended, we took up what we could and ran out and down. Others had come out too, all looking around in surprise. But the majority of folks were still inside. We later found out that there were five more aftershocks later, but we didn't feel any on the ground. And around us, there were still people in exercise gear doing their morning runs, having no idea that an 5.8 scale earthquake had just hit.
After a few more minutes of waiting, went round the corner and got some coffee, they sure got some business in the morning. Nothing like a strong coffee to wake you up from a morning tremor.
Experiences like these are once in a lifetime, I hope ! 🙄 That was a massive shake, and most cities give up easily, with buildings crumbling to the ground. Apart from a few fallen bricks, Australia didn't report any damage. Not one single death. And that is remarkable. Or maybe just lucky this time.
This is science at work, and nature. We are after all, inhabiting a part of a tectonic plate, which is constantly moving over molten lava. Yes, we can build strong , and discover new materials. But if the ground beneath gives way, whats the construction above going to do ? There are natural powers on this planet far more strong and un-controllable than human overconfidence.
Just another reminder that we are here as guests. Enjoy what we can when we still have time.
