Earthquake
Earthquake
claims 26 lives in the states of Colima, Jalisco, and Michoacan, Mexico.
This was a frightening time for me, but for others, it was far more serious.
Please realize that these are observations as seen and felt by me! This
was my first experience in an earthquake. I’ve been in several hurricanes
and tornados, having come from Florida, but never did I experience the
feelings that I did on the evening of 1/21 in Chapala, Mexico.
The epicenter
was just off the state of Colima, a small state, some 60 miles from where
I live. My friend and I had been working on replacing my computer’s
hard drive and as we had not finished, I drove into Chapala to use the
local cyber-net café computers.
Now, I should
tell you that I had a terrible cold and felt very bad. While checking on
emails etc, I felt really woozy, like the floor was moving, and said to
myself that I should hurry up and finish so that I could go home to bed.
Then I felt it again and looked up while the walls were doing their best
imitation of a Salvadore Dali painting. They looked like they were melting.
I looked overhead and saw that the overhead light was swinging wildly to
and fro. I was the second person out the door! My mind raced
with the thoughts of EARTHQUAKE. Having never been in one before, I was
at a loss as to what to do. I ran to the center of the street, where I
was met by many other locals. We all watched as the parked autos
bounced and swayed in place and the trees ‘s limbs and foliage shook as
if a strong wind was blowing them even though there was no wind.
Concrete telephone poles flipped back and forth like giant tomato stakes
in the hands of a giant. All this time, you could feel and see the
street moving back and forth under your feet. Fortunately, the overhead
wires are not taut and had slack in them, so none of the wires broke.
I kept a sharp eye out for walls that might collapse and fall on me.
None did, but In Guadalajara one fell on an elderly lady as she ran in
fright from her home. Chapala, as I said, is 60 miles from Colima, which
I found out later was very badly hit and we are in a direct line with Guadalajara,
which is some 100 miles from the epicenter.
