Just five minutes ago, I experienced a tremor/earthquake here in Arica. It was odd, and I didn’t realize what was happening. Just now the pastor here told me it was strong and long, a five or six. I guess it depends on where the epicenter was, because I thought five or six at least knocked down some things. But here nothing happened.
I’ve had a headache today, and in the exact moment it started, I was leaned over plugging something into an extension cord on the floor. So at first I thought it was just a head rush. It was just like the floor was resting on a small amount of water, moving back and forth like a little wave. Then I stood up, and tried to stand very still, but it still persisted. I had enough time to go outside, lean against the wall (probably not a smart idea, eh?), walk to the nearby fence, and think about going upstairs (another smart idea) to ask the pastor if it was just me, during the tremor. Maybe 15-20 seconds? If it happens again, I’ll stand in the door.
Later….
OK, so the news is that it was a 7.7 on the Richter scale and about 100 miles from here. It lasted for 40 seconds. I called Amy in Santiago and she didn’t even know it had happened. Few people were hurt, but of course people are concerned, considering that Chile was the site of the strongest earthquake ever recorded (more than 9). Here´s the picture they keep showing in the news. This is not in the town I was in. Ironically, in the town it occured in, this was the newest hotel in town.
Now I realize that the reason I was fiddling with the laptop plug was because the power was cut to the whole region when the earthquake started. When the power was lost to my laptop, I assumed it was the pesky cord. The electricity stayed off for several hours as a precaution.
The weirdest part was that I thought this was my own little private event. But within a few hours, I was getting calls and emails from family and friends in the US who had heard the news. We even got emails from friends we hadn’t heard form in two years (but who were on our email list and so knew we were in Chile). Amazing.
I’ve had a headache today, and in the exact moment it started, I was leaned over plugging something into an extension cord on the floor. So at first I thought it was just a head rush. It was just like the floor was resting on a small amount of water, moving back and forth like a little wave. Then I stood up, and tried to stand very still, but it still persisted. I had enough time to go outside, lean against the wall (probably not a smart idea, eh?), walk to the nearby fence, and think about going upstairs (another smart idea) to ask the pastor if it was just me, during the tremor. Maybe 15-20 seconds? If it happens again, I’ll stand in the door.
Later….
OK, so the news is that it was a 7.7 on the Richter scale and about 100 miles from here. It lasted for 40 seconds. I called Amy in Santiago and she didn’t even know it had happened. Few people were hurt, but of course people are concerned, considering that Chile was the site of the strongest earthquake ever recorded (more than 9). Here´s the picture they keep showing in the news. This is not in the town I was in. Ironically, in the town it occured in, this was the newest hotel in town.
Now I realize that the reason I was fiddling with the laptop plug was because the power was cut to the whole region when the earthquake started. When the power was lost to my laptop, I assumed it was the pesky cord. The electricity stayed off for several hours as a precaution.
The weirdest part was that I thought this was my own little private event. But within a few hours, I was getting calls and emails from family and friends in the US who had heard the news. We even got emails from friends we hadn’t heard form in two years (but who were on our email list and so knew we were in Chile). Amazing.
