earthquake!

2:30 AM. It was scary. I woke, in the dark, to my bed shaking, wondering why it was shaking, and then who(!) was shaking it. I then became aware that the whole room was shaking, and leapt out of bed and stood in a doorway in the little hall by the bathroom, figuring it was the safest place. The shaking continued, with some very strong motion, for what seemed like a long time, but was in fact probably 10 to 15 seconds. Rattles of glassware and then a crash in the kitchen. Too dangerous to go look, and what could I see in the dark? Suddenly the power went out, so what little light there was, was no more, and there was no moon. I was in a concrete house. Would there be a trembler so strong it would collapse the building onto Bradley’s family downstairs? If it collapsed would I survive the collapse. But all I’m wearing are my sleeping shorts! Damn, I wish I had saved my computer, and my musical instruments. When will this shaking stop?

And then it did. Very tentatively I moved into my kitchen area and felt around for my flashlights. Found them. What fell in the kitchen? My round pizza stone, which was on the floor on its edge between the fridge and the counter, had rolled out onto the floor, and fallen flat. No problem. I looked around for cracks in the ceilings and walls, there were none. Will there be another trembler? I went back to the bedroom and put on my shorts. Went up on the roof to see how widespread the blackout was. I could see lights in Big Creek, Placencia Village, and Maya Beach, so the blackout was primarily in the Seine Bight area.

I could hear Bradley and Rilda talking downstairs, and Maddie crying. I went downstairs and joined them for a few minutes on the front veranda. Rilda’s cousin Rob arrived on foot. I decided to go back upstairs, and went and got a shirt, my sandals, and sat in a chair out in the central area where the breeze would keep me cool. With no power for the fans, it was getting hot in the bedroom. All the dogs in Seine Bight were barking. Lots of people were calling to each other in the dark. The many fireflies reminded me of my youth.

No more tremblers. I decided to go back to bed, but left my shorts on, and my shirt and sandals in a doorframe by the bathroom. I put on my watch and glasses. I went to sleep.

4:15 AM. I woke to the sounds of the fans starting up, and saw all the little lights on my various electronics glowing blue, red and green. Went to my computer, turned it on and went to the CNN site to find out what had happened. Quake was centered under the Caribbean 25 miles north of the island of Roaton off the Honduras coast. (Later I plotted the epicenter at about 100 miles north-northeast of us.) 7.1 on the Richter scale, there was a tsunami advisory out for Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Then the power went out again. My radio required 8 “D” batteries, I had 7. I went back to bed.

Woke again at 5;30, and 6:00, and 6:30, or so, with power coming on in fits and starts. I was hot and sticky, and wanted to take a shower before coming to work. At 7:15 the power came on again and stayed on. I got up, showered, and came to work, where I am writing this. Here in the village a water main had broken, and there were cracks in the walls to the building where our office is. Amazingly, cracks in the dirt in the parking lot. Word is that in the village of Independence across the water tower collapsed. The Placencia water tower, a concrete structure which has no triangular bracing, has broken at the joints.

So we’re all safe, but a bit shaken. When I go to bed tonight, I’ll leave clothes in the doorway in case I have to make a nighttime hasty retreat.