Earthquake
All Earthquakes and disasters are warnings;
there’s too much corruption in the world –
As travellers, we seem to have spent quite a bit of time in earthquake zones.
My first earthquake was in New Zealand. I was working in Wellington and sharing a house with a group of friends. I woke up to find my housemates sweeping up broken glass and picking up small items from the floor. There had been a minor earthquake during the night.
I ‘d slept through it all.
Fast forward a few years and I had moved to Japan, 3 months ahead of my boyfriend who was joining me there. During my induction at work, I was taken through an earthquake drill. I was briefed on good places to take shelter during an earthquake; strong places to hide if the building collapsed. I was instructed to go home and put together an ‘earthquake bucket’, with essential supplies to last several days: water, candies and loo roll, along with candles, matches, a radio and batteries.
While working in the U.A.E, there was an earthquake in Iran. I remember the day clearly. We were at a screening at a film festival in Dubai. While watching the film, I kept feeling the back of my chair kind of pulse. I figured that the guy behind me had kicked it. I just ignored it. It happened again. I peered back and gave him ‘the look’. You know the one. When my chair moved a third time, I turned right round in my chair, ready to say something to him but he had stepped out. I turned to my colleague, and asked if she had felt anything. At that moment the whole cinema shook. Aftershocks.
In Nairobi, our school took part in the Shake Out drill. It happens worldwide every October. The alarm was sounded. I was working alone in the Film room. I immediately jumped under my desk and held my head but then felt kind of ridiculous, as I knew this was a drill and no-one was checking on me. I went back to work.
When we moved to Indonesia, we learned more about earthquakes. Indonesia is part of the Ring of Fire, an area of the Pacific Ocean where there are many earthquakes as well as volcano eruptions. The majority of the world’s earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.
At a party, my boss showed me his ‘quake app’, which detailed the frequency and strength of earthquakes across the region. Yes, there’s an app for that.
Over our three years there, only a few earthquakes affected us in West Java. One time, I was taking lunch at home before a hospital appointment. I was taking strong medication at the time. As I stood up, I felt unsteady on my feet. I assumed it was the meds. But as I looked up ahead, a paper, Chinese lantern, hanging in our stairwell was swinging vigorously from side to side.
The earthquake struck near the near the city of Lebak. And strong shakes were felt across West Java, Central Java and the capital, Jakarta. For some reason, the tremor in Jakarta was particularly powerful.
On our last wedding anniversary, we travelled to the hilltop village of Santo Stefano in the province of L’ Aquila. L’ Aquila is in Central Italy, near the gigantic Gran Sasso mountain range.
In 2009 the area was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The epicentre was just outside L’ Aquila town. Over 300 people were killed. Many were injured.
In the earthquake, Santo Stefano lost its Medici Tower, the town’s iconic symbol, which totally collapsed, and the 17th century Church of the Madonna del Lago. The roof caved in and the front facade of the building was destroyed.
The devastation felt here was echoed across the area. Lives were lost. Buildings destroyed. So much of L’ Aquila was ruined.
Media coverage was immediate but as with all events, the headlines quickly focus on something else. Meanwhile the recovery operations are long term. Places have to rebuild. People have to rebuild their lives.
Ten years on, L’ Aquila is remembering its loss.
Many buildings across the area are covered in scaffolding, still being strengthened, using anti-seismic technology to withstand the effect of any future earthquake. Some people are still waiting for their homes to be renovated or deemed safe to inhabit.
We live in an amazing but dangerous world. Natural disasters might come without warning. We can’t do anything about that. But more and more, links are being made between climate change and the increasing frequency of natural disasters, including earthquakes. And that’s something that we can do something about; think about our environment, pollute less and minimise our contribution to global warming.
One of the few positives to come out of something like this, is to see how many people come together to help each other. They find ways to offer comfort and support to those affected. Compassion in adversity.
And there is hope too. Something that is typically born from any disaster hitting a town, is resilience. I remember that after IRA attacks in 80s London, not natural disasters but equally tragic. People will be determined to revive their city and recapture its atmosphere. L’ Aquila will renew.
Have you ever been affected by an earthquake where you are living/travelling? Or have you experienced aftershocks somewhere?
©Maggie M/Mother City Time