Earthquake Update

It’s 6pm on Saturday. I only had internet access for a bit…so I sent a few “don’t worry, I’m fine e-mails” and updated my facebook status (the US Embassy even recommended we do that so that those who are worried know how we’re doing). But now I’m just writing and when the internet/power is back up I’ll post this blog.
Here’s the story: It was around 3am. I had gone to bed at 1:30am because I was skyping with my parents and brother. So I think I was just getting into my deep sleep phase. I remember feeling the shaking…and for those in the Midwest who don’t know what an Earthquake feels like…it’s like the land is having a seizure, everything is moving back and forth. You know those dreams when you feel like you’re falling and then you wake up right before you hit the ground? That’s what it all felt like—except that dream over and over again. The door was opening and closing, I could see the light peering into my eyes. But I wasn’t sure what to do. I don’t remember feeling anything other than that—out of control, powerless. I felt like I was drunk and when I saw Alejandra, my host mom, swing open the door and tell me to come with her, the only thing I could think of was to follow her (looking back on that moment, it’s incredible how when put in certain circumstances, Spanish, at that time, came so easy to me). What a wonderful women she was! She held me as the apartment building shook. And shook. And shook. It seemed 10 minutes long (later I found out it was 3 minutes). I felt like I was on a ship, hitting the really rough part of the night, when the waves are crashing on either side of the boat and all you feel like you can do is wait. It was late into the night and none of the lights were on, so I couldn’t tell what was falling or breaking.

When it stopped, Alejandra continued to wrap her arms around me. She said very slowly, “tranquila, tranquila…” (calm, clam). I didn’t feel nervous or scared when it was happening , but when it stopped…my whole body was shaking. My heart was racing fast and I was breathing quickly. I took a number of deep, slow breaths over and over again. I remember looking at Alejandra when it was done and feeling very reassured that everything would be fine. There were are few shock waves that followed. But they were short.

I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was to crawl back into my bed and fall back asleep. Alejandra and Pablo walked around the apartment a bit. I went to my room and just sat on my bed for a few minutes. I had heard that turbulences were normal in Chile—and they would happen when I was on my trip. I thought this was just one of those turbulences (come to learn that it was far from the “normal” or “expected” shaking). I got up and looked out my window…most of Santiago was dark. The power gone. There was something eerie about seeing a major city without the building lit up.
Pablo finds his phone and uses the light from it to see what the apartment looks like—initially it looked like a tornado had swept through the kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Wet patches covered the ground where the fish bowl was . Glass broken all over the floor. Bookshelves without any books.
Alejandra explains to me that she hasn’t felt something like since the 1986 earthquake. Rumor has it…Pinochet ordered it. And then we meet her neighbor and all walk downstairs to be outside. We stay out for about 30 minutes. Many neighbors are talking about the damage they’ve experienced in their homes and who they are waiting to get a hold of. I feel comforted by all of the neighbors who sarcastically say, “Bienvenidos a Chile!” (Welcome to Chile!) and want to make sure that I’m okay…especially as a first-time earthquake survivor.

I didn’t think this would be so long…(writing all of this out)…
Eventually we go back up to the apartment and clean up the pieces of glass on the ground. 20 minutes later, I’m lying in bed wondering, “what just happened.” I continued to feel the after-shocks all through the night, eventually falling asleep at 5:30am. At certain points I began to think I was feeling something shake…when really all was calm (not cellular phantom vibrations, instead this was phantom after-shocks).

I woke up at around 10:30am and spent the day finding out more information. Throughout the day there were frequent after-shocks. It felt scarier this time, experiencing them. Maybe it was because I was more awake, understood the gravity of the situation more…whatever it was…it was more nerve raking to feel the apartment shake and have no control over it or nowhere to go where I wouldn’t feel it. The staff of SIT visited each student’s house to make sure we were okay. Luckily for all of us (partially a miracle or something) there were no major problems (broken glasses, etc.).

In the early afternoon after a number of friends’ of Alejandra and Pablo’s visited the house to make sure all was well, Pablo and I went for a walk to get some groceries. It was ironic to see the big stores/pharmacies closed and the small fruit and vegetables stands open. I kind of had expected it to be the other way. Initially I couldn’t see much damage. I’d point to a crack in the ground and Pablo would laugh and tell me that that’s just how the sidewalk is. Eventually I saw tons of damage, entire windows split in half or knocked out. A whole store front crumbled to pieces. Huge cracks up the side of large houses. And with that—the city was still moving. The bus system was working, just slower than usual. People were doing out to eat at the Chinese and Peruvian restaurants we passed. Taxis were running. People were walking around.

I kept getting mixed messages---on one hand, it was a horrible earthquake that lead to tsunamis and on the other hand, the damage I saw was few and far between and the city was working (all be it without power, except for the generators running).
We cleaned the apartment, ate, played uno (I’ve always wanted to play uno in a Spanish-speaking country)…and as more news came in about the deaths, the comparison to Haiti’s recent earthquake, how Bachelet (Chile’s current president) is not stepping turning over the Presidency to Pinera at the beginning of March so that she is able to deal with this crisis fully, the tsunamis that were starting, Hilary Clinton’s visit soon, the pictures of antique buildings in Santiago in pieces...and as I saw Alejandra cry as she learned more and more about her country and the people dead and hurt…I began to feel what I tend to feel when I hear about different travesties. ..pure sadness for the lives gone and the damage created.