This morning, at 9.30am, was the time given for this year’s
National Earthquake Drill.
It is called New Zealand Shake Out and is designed to test
how ready the country is to face a major earthquake and/or tsunami.
There are around 20,000 recorded earthquakes in our country
each year – thankfully, only about 250 of those are felt!
I set up the alarm on my phone, as earthquakes can happen
anywhere at any time and I wanted to be “caught out” while doing normal things.
I happened to be hanging out the washing. I’m not exactly sure if I reacted correctly –
after the first “what’s that noise?” (it was my alarm), it was “earthquake!”
and I imagined the earth rolling beneath my feet and grabbed hold of the
clothesline to steady myself.
Then I remembered a friend telling me how her mother had
been hanging out the washing when the 7.8 Napier earthquake struck on 3
February 1931.
The ground opened up all around her in great cracks, and the
poor woman fell to her knees and prayed.
When the shaking stopped and she opened her eyes again, all the cracks
had closed up and the ground was back to normal.
What a frightening experience that must have been.
I’m grateful that I have only ever felt minor earthquakes, as
I know others who have experienced major quakes and never yet met anyone who
enjoyed the experience.
Be prepared and stay safe,
Margaret 😊
My dad grew up on a Greek island that’s directly over a fault line. He said he was tending the sheep when he was around five and an earthquake hit. He too remembers the ground opening right in front of him and he looked down and it went on forever. He ran home as fast has he could and to this day is still traumatised by it.
ReplyDeleteWe very rarely get earthquakes here. We have lots of little ones but we don’t feel them.
Oh no, your poor father. What an incredibly frightening thing that must have been.
DeleteI've always had this great fear of earthquakes even though we rarely have them here in NC. I had never felt one until a few years ago. I was home alone and felt this strange odd feeling like something moved or bumped...can't explain it but somehow I knew it was an earthquake. It was, and was on the news and was the talk around here for several days. Folks asking, where were you when you felt the earthquake? No damage was done.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention this, I live in California and yesterday for the first time I got the earthquake alarm sounding loud on my phone. It said drop and cover. It was a 5.0 some distance from my house (50 miles?), I was driving at the time and didn't feel the quake but many did, a rolling motion. Let's all stay safe. I remember the devastation of the Christ Church quake in New Zealand a few years ago and a destructive one in my city 30 years ago.
ReplyDeleteNo earthquakes here. Tornadoes but very infrequently. I am okay living without those natural disasters on my doorstep.
ReplyDeleteEarthquakes are not unusual here on the west coast but most of them are quite harmless. It sure feels weird though to feel the shaking and see the chandelier swing gently back and forth.
ReplyDeleteVery glad we don't have to have earthquake practice here!
ReplyDeleteWe get a lot of earthquakes in Greece but thankfully we only feel most of them from far away. I can still remember a few from growing up in NZ. I'm glad I've never seen the earth open. I'd be down on my knees praying too.
ReplyDeleteI have never experienced an earthquake, and even when I first met Miriam the earth didn't tremble beneath my feet! I remember in Chile though each place we stayed had earthquake response instructions on the door of our room.
ReplyDeleteBeing prepared is important for sure.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in a mining town. When the mine was closing, the shafts were flooded. We woke one night thinking it was an earthquake but it was a rock burst underground. That was scary enough. I cannot imagine what it was like for that poor woman you described.
Take care, Margaret!
Happily, up here in the north, I have only experienced one little earthquake (that I know of). Was sitting at my computer early one Sun. morning. I felt the floor, beneath my feet, "move." That was it here, but other places, probably closer, had items fall off shelves and break and etc., etc.
ReplyDeleteWe are near the foothills of very old mountains. Ourselves, we live on stone, granite, whatever... Very, very hard. Perhaps more soft ground, moves more, than old stone????????
Glad you prepare. Hope you never have to really worry.
🍁🌰🌻🍂🎃🍂🌻🌰🍁
"Hark! The wind is rising,
And the air is full of leaves.
We've had our summer evenings.
Now, for October Eves."
No earthquakes here, my parents experienced one in Washington one time...they left the next day for home:)
ReplyDeleteIt’s good to have drills so we can be ready- no earthquake drills here, but rather tornado drills. What a story your friend has of her mother- terrifying.
ReplyDeleteQuite frankly, the idea of being in a tornado terrifies more than the idea of an earthquake. I guess it is what you grow up with and become familiar with. We do have tornadoes here, but only small ones and not that often.
DeleteI have felt one earthquake and its aftershock...just a mild one. I would not want to feel a bad one!
ReplyDelete