Earthquake!

Background:

When choosing to go abroad for my last co-op, I was not afraid to take on the challenges of cultural and language immersion in a developing country like the rest of my peers; I was immensely afraid of natural disasters. It sounds silly when you say it out-loud but realistically, I am an adaptable, independent woman with the enormous advantage of having family to help me. I can handle culture shock. I can handle the day-to-day challenges of living in a third world country. What I can’t handle is a building collapsing on top of me, a flood sweeping me away, or being caught in the middle of a mudslide.

Nepal ranks number one on the top earthquake risk list. About every 75yrs, there is a major earthquake near the Nepal-India border. In 1934 an 8.4 Reichter scale earthquake shattered the city of Kathmandu. My grandma used to tell stories about how she ran outside as buildings collapsed around her. After about 80 yrs, Nepal is long overdue. A force that created the highest peak in the world could easily come back to topple it back down.

danger written all over it

If another major earthquake strikes, Kathmandu valley is especially in danger. The vastly overpopulated city is built on soft sediment rather than solid bedrock. Trying to save money, people cut corners by watering down concrete, using lower quality materials, and not following the building code. Poorly constructed buildings have sprung up in every nook and cranny of the city. There are dozens of high voltage power lines lining every street and alley. If “the big one” ever hits near the valley, hundreds of thousands of people would die or be severely injured; the entire city would be flattened.

More info

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Sunday, September 18, 2011:

It was a typical Sunday. We visited relatives in the morning and then made our way to a mela (festival) later in the afternoon. It was pouring so hard that the rain leaked through my umbrella. I was slightly concerned the sky might be falling. We were soaked. Eventually it stopped raining and we jumped in the car to drive home.

The regular bumpy ride home seemed normal… until we saw people lining the street, dozens more running outside screaming, staring up at the sky. We stopped the car to look around and see what was going on. We thought maybe a power line went down. There was a cloud of dust and smoke in the sky, was that always there? I couldn’t remember. What if there was a riot and a bomb went off? What was going on? My mind raced with questions as my mom said to the driver to go home, it wasn’t safe to stay put.

As we continued to drive home, my cousin called home to see if anyone knew what happened. The lines were jammed. Almost home… we finally get a phone call. There was an earthquake, with at least two tremors so far. Panic sets in. We tell the driver to drive to a large open parking lot near our house.

When we get out of the car, everyone is standing outside waiting for the aftershock. I am shivering partly from the cold, partly out of fear. We try to call our house but the lines are still jammed. My mom’s brother and oldest sister are still in the house. My mom’s sister is 73 and has trouble walking and climbing stairs. We frantically keep trying the house number. My cousin walks over and rings the doorbell just as I finally get them on the phone. We tell them to come outside with us, stay together. Everyone discusses what we should do, we can’t wait outside all night, can we?

We decide to go back into the house together. To say that I was utterly terrified does not even begin to describe the feeling at the pit of my stomach. I go into emergency preparedness mode, fearing that my worst nightmare, my one fear about traveling abroad, has come to realization. I started throwing all the absolute essentials, important documents, my passport, a change of clothes, and water into my backpack and instructing my mother to do the same. I threw on a sweatshirt and sneakers and was ready to run if anything were to happen. Our family designated an open space to go to in case of an emergency.

My uncle tells us about how the entire floor shook for what seemed like eternity. The light fixtures swung back and forth. How could we not have felt anything? Are the roads THAT rocky that we didn’t even notice an earthquake? In retrospect, it was probably for the best.

We nervously wait, turning on the news to see what happened. The power goes in and out a few times. A wall collapsed not too far from here, killing three people. The entire valley waits for news about if an aftershock is coming, or if the worst is yet to come…

That night we quickly ate together and watched the news, with our shoes on, just in case. I couldn’t sleep, woke up every hour or so. In the morning we learned that a small aftershock came around 2am, but not strong enough to feel. The city returned to normal. I still watched the news everyday as the death toll rose in Sikkim, India and wondered if I should be relieved that some pressure was released and another earthquake won’t come any time soon, or if this was just antecedent to “the big one.”