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Damage to a street close to the epicenter which was about thirty miles northwest of us. Photo from Bowin Tichenor. |
I sat up suddenly in bed out of a dead sleep. The clock read 5:30 and it was still dark out. What was that? Why was I awake? Still groggy, but I knew I had felt or heard something, so my feet swung off the bed and hit the floor. Abby was still sleeping. It's funny how she wakes up all the time at night, and I usually sleep straight though, but on things like this, I'm the first to wake.
Like the night last winter in Montesano when our house was hit by lightning. We were both fast asleep when it hit, but I awoke while the dazzling, piercing light was still illuminating the bedroom; even before the booming thunder struck, setting off the fire alarms and shaking the house like it would tear it from the foundation. Abby bolted up in a panic, but I had already grabbed her and assured her that it was just thunder and we were ok. The dog and kids were in our bedroom a second later. Fuses were blown, the garage door opener was fried, and lights were burnt out. It was quite an experience.
So this morning I woke first, and walked quickly out of the bedroom. My mind churned slowly, and I wondered if it was a dream, or maybe a truck had hit the building. Or an earthquake. The door to the girls' room was open and Keilani was awake.
"What was that?" she asked. So there had been something, not just a dream.
"Probably just the wind," I said. "Go back to sleep." It had been unusually windy all night, so that was a possibility.
I walked down the hallway and Abby was groggily slapping at my side of the bed. I later learned she thought I was shaking the bed and was trying to hit me to make me stop moving around. Really? Like I want to get a jump on my morning workout but don't want to make the effort of actually getting out of bed?
I got out to the patio and it was totally silent. Still. No wind or movement at all outside.
Hmmph, I thought. Guess it wasn't the wind. But if it was an earthquake, wouldn't the trees be swaying or something? If it was a truck hitting the apartment, surely I would hear some activity down on the street. But I didn't. So I walked back to bed. I told Abby I'd felt or heard something, maybe, but I didn't know what it was.
I learned later that about two miles north at the Root's house, it was obvious that an earthquake had struck. People filed out of their houses and apartments and filled the dark street. They spoke loudly, sharing stories. Several miles north of them, at another friends' house, they felt the rocking for about 30 seconds. It was 5.3 earthquake, and was rather strong for them, but thankfully no damage.
Almost exactly 2 years ago, Haiti was devastated by that enormous 7.0 quake about a hundred and fifty miles from here. This was nothing like that. I'm glad
