Pegasus Earthquake
Day of Terror - 23rd December 2011
Morning arrived with Mother feeling exceptionally tired and weary. She also was feeling very nausea so, because her normal doctor was on holiday we rushed her into the 24 Hour Surgery in the central city for a check-up.
They did various checks and then asked us to wait for an hour or so till the blood test results came back. The four of us were crowded into a little cubicle on the ground floor. The seating was poor… so I ended up half lying on the bed and half propped against the wall. (most uncomfortable!) Simon and father had seats… lucky them!
The curtain was open so we could watch the staff working outside in the main room. Everyone was busy doing their thing when suddenly the earthquake (5.8 magnitude) struck with no warning.
With an almighty crash, the whole building shook and swayed. Medicine cabinets were sent flying. Items of all kinds rolled and rocked around. Nurses and doctors yelled with fright and ran for their lives. Crammed into our cubicle we leapt to our feet. I held onto a medicine cabinet nearby with both hands while looking fearfully at the roof. Mother scrambled off the bed and hung onto father and I while screaming with terror. I hugged her close to try and calm her down. I was scared… really scared, but I knew Mother needed to be calmed. I wanted to run and run and run, but I held onto her and waited quietly with the rest off my family for the shaking to cease. As soon as the shaking stopped we started slowly walking (helping Mother) out of the building.
We had crossed the main room before we were met by a group of nurses who had returned to help evacuate those left behind. I laugh now to think how they all vanished at top speed at the first shakes. I somehow wonder if they dashed out of the room and yelled at the top of their lungs before returning to calmly to reassure us that all was well!
Ha-ha!
Everyone was evacuated from the Surgery and assembled in the car park. Emergency supplies and stretchers were bought out so work could continue until the building was deemed safe to re-enter.
Mother was finally discharged and with great relief we headed for home to see how our house had fared.
Upon arrival home we found water had gushed up out of the ground and had sent silt across our garden and lawns again. Thanks to the Lord the house itself was undamaged… but some of our sheds had sunk, including the garage for my Triumph car.
We put all the books back up on the shelves and the pictures back upright on the dresser. Some of Simon’s models had fallen over, but had not broken.
Then, I moved up to my room to relax for a bit. I turned my laptop on and started to check my emails. With starting vengeance an after shock even bigger hit. It was a 6.0 magnitude… and a real beauty!
My laptop seemed ready to leap up and hit me in the face! There was crashing sounds and breaking glass. Pictures on my dresser fell over onto the floor. The bed I was sitting on jumped like a bucking bronco! The bedside table rattled and vibrated. The roof shook and twisted. It was like being inside a giant tumble drier. The world was spinning and we had to wait for it to stop.
I have been through many earthquakes in the last 18 months (over 8,000) but that 6.0 mag must have been the most scary and frightening on them all. I heard yells downstairs so flew down to find out what was up.
Mother was standing at the front door crying. She was really crying with so much fear and pain I forgot my own. She had lain upon her bed to try and sleep and was rudely awoken by the earthquake. The fear made her try to exit the house. But she was very upset because her stroke has made her reactions very slow. She wanted to move faster but couldn’t, no matter how she tried.
Simon was out on the street talking to some friends when it hit. He straight away came inside to see how we were.
I wrapped Mother in my arms and half carried her into the kitchen. Father came inside. He had been standing in the backyard when the quake hit. He came in very bewildered and distressed saying, “That’s it! I can’t take any more! I am finished. I have had enough!”
Quick as a wink I said to my family… “Come on, come here.”
I gathered them together and gave them a big group hug. As we all hugged I said to my little family, “Look, don’t worry, we are not going to be beaten by this. No earthquakes are going to ruin things for us! We simply won’t allow it! As long as we are all standing we shall stand firm… even if there is nothing to stand on!”
Father was beside himself with worry and fear. I told him, “Don’t worry about a thing. Simon and I can take care of it. Just relax and be at peace knowing that God is at work… for reasons we do not know. Let’s just put up with it and see what happens, because whatever does happen is going to work for good.”
After an afternoon of almost continual shaking we went to bed… only to be kept awake by more quakes... lots over 4.5 mag! At one stage I thought I was going to lose my courage and self control and have to move downstairs just to be near the rest of the family. Hehe! It’s not very nice when things rock and roll in the dark! Praise God we have Jesus to watch over us and to protect us! I fell asleep asking God to deliver us and to bring our troubles to an end.
P/S: Mother is a lot better (heathwise) today. Apparently she was just suffering from extreme tiredness. She has been trying to do too much around the house...
24th December 2011
By Adam R. B. Reeve
They did various checks and then asked us to wait for an hour or so till the blood test results came back. The four of us were crowded into a little cubicle on the ground floor. The seating was poor… so I ended up half lying on the bed and half propped against the wall. (most uncomfortable!) Simon and father had seats… lucky them!
The curtain was open so we could watch the staff working outside in the main room. Everyone was busy doing their thing when suddenly the earthquake (5.8 magnitude) struck with no warning.
With an almighty crash, the whole building shook and swayed. Medicine cabinets were sent flying. Items of all kinds rolled and rocked around. Nurses and doctors yelled with fright and ran for their lives. Crammed into our cubicle we leapt to our feet. I held onto a medicine cabinet nearby with both hands while looking fearfully at the roof. Mother scrambled off the bed and hung onto father and I while screaming with terror. I hugged her close to try and calm her down. I was scared… really scared, but I knew Mother needed to be calmed. I wanted to run and run and run, but I held onto her and waited quietly with the rest off my family for the shaking to cease. As soon as the shaking stopped we started slowly walking (helping Mother) out of the building.
We had crossed the main room before we were met by a group of nurses who had returned to help evacuate those left behind. I laugh now to think how they all vanished at top speed at the first shakes. I somehow wonder if they dashed out of the room and yelled at the top of their lungs before returning to calmly to reassure us that all was well!
Ha-ha!
Everyone was evacuated from the Surgery and assembled in the car park. Emergency supplies and stretchers were bought out so work could continue until the building was deemed safe to re-enter.
Mother was finally discharged and with great relief we headed for home to see how our house had fared.
Upon arrival home we found water had gushed up out of the ground and had sent silt across our garden and lawns again. Thanks to the Lord the house itself was undamaged… but some of our sheds had sunk, including the garage for my Triumph car.
We put all the books back up on the shelves and the pictures back upright on the dresser. Some of Simon’s models had fallen over, but had not broken.
Then, I moved up to my room to relax for a bit. I turned my laptop on and started to check my emails. With starting vengeance an after shock even bigger hit. It was a 6.0 magnitude… and a real beauty!
My laptop seemed ready to leap up and hit me in the face! There was crashing sounds and breaking glass. Pictures on my dresser fell over onto the floor. The bed I was sitting on jumped like a bucking bronco! The bedside table rattled and vibrated. The roof shook and twisted. It was like being inside a giant tumble drier. The world was spinning and we had to wait for it to stop.
I have been through many earthquakes in the last 18 months (over 8,000) but that 6.0 mag must have been the most scary and frightening on them all. I heard yells downstairs so flew down to find out what was up.
Mother was standing at the front door crying. She was really crying with so much fear and pain I forgot my own. She had lain upon her bed to try and sleep and was rudely awoken by the earthquake. The fear made her try to exit the house. But she was very upset because her stroke has made her reactions very slow. She wanted to move faster but couldn’t, no matter how she tried.
Simon was out on the street talking to some friends when it hit. He straight away came inside to see how we were.
I wrapped Mother in my arms and half carried her into the kitchen. Father came inside. He had been standing in the backyard when the quake hit. He came in very bewildered and distressed saying, “That’s it! I can’t take any more! I am finished. I have had enough!”
Quick as a wink I said to my family… “Come on, come here.”
I gathered them together and gave them a big group hug. As we all hugged I said to my little family, “Look, don’t worry, we are not going to be beaten by this. No earthquakes are going to ruin things for us! We simply won’t allow it! As long as we are all standing we shall stand firm… even if there is nothing to stand on!”
Father was beside himself with worry and fear. I told him, “Don’t worry about a thing. Simon and I can take care of it. Just relax and be at peace knowing that God is at work… for reasons we do not know. Let’s just put up with it and see what happens, because whatever does happen is going to work for good.”
After an afternoon of almost continual shaking we went to bed… only to be kept awake by more quakes... lots over 4.5 mag! At one stage I thought I was going to lose my courage and self control and have to move downstairs just to be near the rest of the family. Hehe! It’s not very nice when things rock and roll in the dark! Praise God we have Jesus to watch over us and to protect us! I fell asleep asking God to deliver us and to bring our troubles to an end.
P/S: Mother is a lot better (heathwise) today. Apparently she was just suffering from extreme tiredness. She has been trying to do too much around the house...
24th December 2011
By Adam R. B. Reeve