...Okay, so it sounds like everyone did.
No fatalities, no major damage.
But holy sh*t, DID YOU FEEL THAT?!? I'm not sure I've ever been so frightened in my life!
Here at MVT, when the office started to shake, I think we all had the same idea: someone was driving past the office in one of the big trucks. And they were going far too fast. Then, after realizing it was going on too long for a tractor trailer to be whizzing by, I thought for sure one of the trucks had accidentally hit the office.
It wasn't until I looked over at Claire and said, "What the hell is that?" and she was already jumping from her chair and heading for the door saying something about an earthquake that I realized what was going on. I was right on her heels, heading for the exit!
Lindsay stopped us and made us stand in the doorframe - which seemed ridiculous to me, when the outdoors was only a few feet away, and out there I would not have to worry about a building collapsing on me.
But apparently Lindsay was right to make us stop in the doorframes, because apparently you're not to go outside during an earthquake. Go figure.
In any case - I couldn't believe it when they said the 5.0 earthquake with the epicentre in Val-des-Bois, Quebec that hit at 1:40 PM only lasted 20-30 seconds. Felt like it went on for minutes. And for about an hour afterwards, it felt like my legs were made of Jell-O.
In Ottawa, apparently it caused an even bigger stir as buildings were evacuated and examined for structual damage. Emergency services said their phone lines went haywire until evening. It was chaos as many were sent home early, and the mass exodus of downtown Ottawa was a traffic nightmare.
After living through my first major earthquake? (Alright, so they're calling it a "moderate" one...whatever...it was major in my world!) I hope I never have to feel that again. Makes me very grateful that I don't live in an earthquake zone, because that panic I felt is not something I want to feel again. Ever.
Earthquakes are not my thing.
2 comments:
Totally agree with you on this one - i was one of the ones downtown and didn't know what was going on - i felt like i couldnt move, i scrambled to shut my heater off, grab my shoes and see what my other co-workers were doing...what were they doing...just sitting there and were like hmm must have been an earthquake like it was nothing. I saw everyone going outside and i was like well i'll go check whats going on - there are no fire alarms so why should we leave...besides downtown, do you realize if buildings are going to start collapsing, most buildings are glass buildings mixed in with thousands of crazy people mixed in with traffic - HELLO - disaster waiting to happen. So i came back upstairs and as I was walking up the cement stairwell alone, i got a vision that the stairs were going to give out and i was going to be found in the rubble days after, like something that would happen in the Y&R! Haha! Anyways, all is good here, but I would never want to experience that again, although, secretly, i sort of wanted some sort of an aftershock last night!
I was worried about aftershocks all afternoon/evening too...(not really looking forward to it, though, lol) - and I just kept thinking of this movie I watched as a kid - can't even remember what it was called, but I remember them digging people out of rubble after an earthquake. Eeek... Yes, I will be happy if I never have to go through that again!!
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