The following day, Beth Anne was driving with four other people on the highway when, out of the blue, one of the other woman received a call- an earthquake struck southern Chile, had we heard? No, we had not heard. Phone lines quickly became jammed and, after flipping through radio stations, we heard that the earthquake was a magnitude 8.0 and a tsunami warning was issued to all coastal cities near the epicenter, including Viña del Mar. The mood in car dramatically shifted as the people I was with tried repeatedly to contact family and friends to see if they were okay.
We pulled over into a gas station to keep listening to the radio and wait for more information on the tsunami warning. To say tension was running high would be an understatement. A magnitude 8.0 is labeled "Great" on the Richter scale and can create serious damage several hundred kilometres away from the epic center. Slowly though better news began to trickle in, phone lines cleared up and we found out family and friends were fine, the tsunami warning lifted so we were safe to go back, and the magnitude of the earthquake turned out to be 7.2. Deep breathes. The mood lightened and we were back on the road.
This marks the first major earthquake warning since I had been in Chile. The most unsettling part was just waiting to hear more information about people, the earthquake, and the tsunami. I realized there is a feeling of helplessness that comes with an earthquake. You cannot control it and, in our case, we were too far away from the epicenter to have been able to help people.
Hopefully, this will be my first and last post about earthquakes for awhile. :)
In happier news, my roommates and I hosted a Mexican food night at our places last week. After singing "Happy Birthday!" to me, we snapped this photo-
We pulled over into a gas station to keep listening to the radio and wait for more information on the tsunami warning. To say tension was running high would be an understatement. A magnitude 8.0 is labeled "Great" on the Richter scale and can create serious damage several hundred kilometres away from the epic center. Slowly though better news began to trickle in, phone lines cleared up and we found out family and friends were fine, the tsunami warning lifted so we were safe to go back, and the magnitude of the earthquake turned out to be 7.2. Deep breathes. The mood lightened and we were back on the road.
This marks the first major earthquake warning since I had been in Chile. The most unsettling part was just waiting to hear more information about people, the earthquake, and the tsunami. I realized there is a feeling of helplessness that comes with an earthquake. You cannot control it and, in our case, we were too far away from the epicenter to have been able to help people.
Hopefully, this will be my first and last post about earthquakes for awhile. :)
In happier news, my roommates and I hosted a Mexican food night at our places last week. After singing "Happy Birthday!" to me, we snapped this photo-
Photo courtesy of my friend Melanie
I'm glad that you're safe and un-tsunami'd! (PS - Happy belated birthday!!)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you're ok! I also wish I could have been there for the Mexican food party. I'm very jealous.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Me too. We had a mini-earthquake this morning. It just reminds me that things are not always what they appear...like the ground being solid. I wish you could have too!! I thought about your guac. :)
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