A Little Shaken Up

Last Wednesday we had a pretty big earthquake here in Indonesia. The epicenter was about 100 km south of us, a little ways off the coast. We felt it quite strong here in Bandung. People felt it in Jakarta. The worst hit places were some smaller towns and villages in the areas surrounding us. Here are some details as reported on BBC News:

"At least 49 people are confirmed dead and thousands of homes ruined after the 7.0-magnitude quake hit on Wednesday. More than 100 people are in hospitals and dozens are still missing. Damaged roads and poor weather are hampering efforts to get heavy rescue equipment to the worst-hit areas in the West Javan district of Cianjur. More than 18,000 homes across West Java province have been damaged, about 9,000 seriously, Mr Kardono said."

"Indonesian television showed people being treated in temporary tents, while others were being attended to outside in hospital grounds."

"Garut and Tasikmalaya districts, along with Cianjur, about 100km (62 miles) south of Jakarta, were among the worst hit. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most active areas for earthquakes and volcanic activity in the world."

And now for my story:

Wednesday was coming to an end and I kept checking the clock waiting impatiently for the bell to ring. The last period of the day I have 8th graders in my classroom for an Algebra 1 class. We had finished our daily lesson and they were working on some homework, quietly I might add which was a new thing for them. For some reason this year the hormones are flying in 8th grade and it's been really hard to get them to settle down and focus at the end of the day.

Anyway, they were working and I was walking around answering questions when all of a sudden I began to feel it shake. The students also realized that the building was moving and immediately looked over at me as to what they should do. I told everyone to get under the desks. My classroom is on the second floor of our school building and the building felt like it was swaying back and forth. (And a side note here: Anna I think I can now kind of relate to the rocking of the boat and I am so sorry. I don't think I would be able to do it.)

We were all sitting under the desks trying to hold on for what felt like a long time (at least 2 minutes)! Midway through that time there was a moment when I felt like it suddenly got stronger and I began to worry that the ceiling tiles might start falling. The building sounded like it was creaking a bit from all the rocking and rolling. There were a few students who were growing nervous and started to freak out. I remember calling out to the class to stay calm and telling them that we were going to be alright. One of my boys didn't want to stay under the desk and I kept reminding him to get back under. We stayed under the desks until the shaking finally stopped.

I tried to calm the class down so I could give them instructions on what to do next. They had already erupted in talking long before the earthquake ended. In both excitement and terror they screamed out about what they had just experienced. Most of the boys thought it was the best thing ever, most of the girls clung to each other in near tears. Finally I told them they had to be quiet and listen. We crawled out from under the desks and exited the building. Outside we met up with the rest of the school. Our director got everyone together and said a few words. The kids went back inside to gather their things and then we shewed them out of the building for fear of after shocks.

There was very little damage to the building. In the library a bookshelf fell over and some other displays fell off the shelves. No one was hurt at all, just a little shaken up.