6.3 Earthquake

When the shaking started I was expecting just another aftershock. It was very intense and over quickly and didn't really leave any time to think. All I could do was hold on to the door frame and try to stay on my feet while everything shook violently. I managed to stop the TV next to me from falling, but the large bookshelf toppled onto the sofa and glass jars and bottles fell out of the pantry and smashed on to the floor.

I went to check on the animals with my hands shaking and heart pounding, and luckily everything seemed to be fine. I didn't realise how serious the earthquake was, I thought it was just a smaller quake but centred closer to home. I got in touch with Owen and my family to let them know I was alright, it wasn't until I went out onto the street and saw water gushing everywhere from the broken mains that I started to think that things might be serious.

I started cleaning up in the house, waiting for Owen to get home, and hoping that the water coming up the driveway wasn't going to get much closer. When he arrived the street was a huge mess. A car had fallen through the road right outside our gate, and there was water and sand everywhere.

We started trying to get in touch with friends, but the network was overloaded and messages were being delayed, sometimes for hours. We were listening to a battery operated radio (all power and water went off as soon as the quake happened) and started to understand the scale of the disaster. When I heard that two buildings had collapsed in town I started to get worried about one of my friends, and the worst was confirmed when I heard she was trapped in one of the buildings. She'd been in contact with people and urban search and resuce were trying to get survivors out, but it was a very tense night waiting for news and still being jolted by aftershocks. It was such a relief when we heard that she'd been rescued and was going to be alright.

The next day we spent most of the time cleaning up, tracking down some food and water, and listening to the radio for updates. Judging by the state of our suburb it will be days or weeks before power and water are restored, but luckily we have friends on the other side of town where we can access both. It will be a while before things can go back to normal, we're just thankful that our friends and family have made it through.