Quake

This was even worse than the last time and it lasted much longer. Even as this is being written there are intermittent aftershocks, quite unpredictable, some of which moves the writer to “calmly” walk outdoors. But they are less than the initial shock. They will last for days judging by the last time. We will get used to them.

In the meantime, no news of damage yet. Electricity is back, quite surprisingly quickly. This reassures him there has been no big damage elsewhere in the city. No billows of smoke to indicate a fire somewhere. But cable TV is still out. A note of reminder to keep a battery operated radio in the house, the next time around.

But even now he is getting news of what’s happening elsewhere in the city and the islands. They have been calling and receiving calls by phone.

“How is everyone?”

“We’re all safe.”

Apparently, the news is already spreading fast elsewhere. A sister calls from Manila quite worried for us. The news there is that there are four fatalities in the Pasil area. They seem to know more than us. We call Mama in Bohol where the epicenter was reported to have been. The news there was quite bad.

While there are no reports yet of fatalities there are reports of belfry towers of various churches severely damaged, possibly fallen down. The earthquake was possibly intensity 7. But these are news without verification so far. All we can know for sure is that this was the worst earthquake to have hit us. We are lucky the damage is not worse.

But he would be lying who claims to have gone through this unscared. This was an event that certainly sent the adrenalin pumping. And this early in the morning. The duration of it was what really got to you. This took longer than the last time.

There was more than enough time to rush outside from the house to the street, enough time to ask who was left inside. The daughter was still inside up in her bedroom. But it was ludicrous to even think of going back in to get her. He had enough trouble just trying to keep his balance standing on the shaking earth. But the desire to do exactly grew inside him as the shaking got even worse. The van seemed now to be bobbing up and down and sideways where it was parked, its wheels seeming to bounce off the ground like those pimped-up cars one sees on TV.

By now the roofs are shaking in their rafters in a perfectly scary metalic scream. There is a small cloud of dust flying from anything concrete. It is the strength of concrete which is finally being tested here. It seems almost unbelievable they are still holding-up despite the rattling. One almost waits for them to start cracking and then crumbling down on their own weight. For that would be the worst that could happen as he inevitably imagined.

All that’s happening suggests exactly that impending doom. And the daughter is still up in her room. In the height of everything that’s happening one cannot help but pray automatically and silently. And then to trust the daughter knows how to take care of herself if the worst should ever come.

As it turned out she spent the whole time hiding under the desk in her upstairs bedroom. Which only shows she had been taught well in school and from the previous quake which happened on a school day. It was a holiday this time around. And she did well. This will be to her benefit the next time around.

And just like everywhere else, all these are followed by the major clean up. The rest of the day is spent sweeping, mopping and rearranging the furniture. He cannot help thinking: He should remember to thank his niece Engr. Paola Godofreda Fernandez and the engineers of Pagtambayayong Foundation who designed the structure of his house. It survived its second big quake. That there were no buildings collapsing anywhere else in the city speaks well of local engineers and builders. This essay is lucky to be written. This writer, is lucky to be alive. This was not an ordinary day for anyone.