all shook up

well that was an adventure. not the best start to a day. the house felt like some giant had picked it up and was shaking it like one of those little snow domes. and the noise. crashings and bangings and breaking glass. hubby and i clinging to each other then staggering through the still moving house to reach my sons room. once the initial shock had subsided (and it went on, and on, and on...for what seemed like forever) we went outside. the air full with people shouting back and forth 'yous ok/ yep wes ok, yous ok' dogs barking frantically, cows mooing, and birds screeching and circling the tree tops around us. then slowly various people have tuned their cars in to the one working radio station, a local station on Maui, and mixed with the sound of chaos is the dulcet tones of hawaiian ukulele. during those next few minutes the animal and bird populations must have calmed down because when the maui station died there was this sudden complete silence. accompanied by the overwhelming smell of sweet fruit and flowers.ands then the aftershocks, which we should have been expecting , but being english we weren't. (not a lot of earthquakes in gillingham!). we ran back into the house to rescue....wait for it.....the BEER. (and smoke!) the logic being that if it was the end of the world i at least wanted a joint and drink. i wasn't the only one who thought that, as soon after the second shock the air was full of the scent of buds and the sound of beer cans opening!! at this point we still don't know whats happened or why. the cell phones don't work. no electric. no operating radio stations. so much for the civil defense warnings!! so everybody just milled about in the street, too frightened to return home, but sensible enough not to try and go elsewhere. my brother, our friend from england, our lodger, and a girl friend of mine were all in kona, they had spent the night together at a hotel there after spending the night p*ss*ng it up. they were on the top floor which didn't so much shake as swing widely from side to side. they all thought they were going to die. and sat in a circle between the two beds, holding hands and telling each other they loved them. (ahh..sweet!!) my cell phone started working first and after telling zoe that we were safe and loved her, one of the boys managed to get through to me to say they were safe. after about an hour we decided it must be safe to peruse the damage. fortunately, most of my windows have no glass, but other then that everything was broken. the most enormous mirror (6'x5') shattered into a million piece, crockery broken inside and out side the cabinets. glass EVERYWHERE and i do mean everywhere. tiny shards that must of flown in all directions. contents of every shelf, cupboard, drawer, scattered into odd places and positions. light bulbs exploded in their sockets, and added to glass was cornflakes and jam, and cooking oil, and perfume, and lots and lots of stuff! by the time the boys got back hubby and i had it pretty much under control, and were well on the way to being pretty much sloshed. they've rolled in, having found beer somewhere, and happy, giggling, exuberance, as we have all hugged and held each other.

so hug someone you love today. aloha as always.

 

the song that kept going through my mind was 'i love the sound of breaking glass' lol

 

Yea I echo TimW's comments, first thing I thought of was my GeekMate on the Island when I heard the news, glad your just "All Shook-up" and not hurt. The power of nature when it decides to party is frightening, as there is little or nothing you can do.

 

ah sweet. to the best of my knowledge there have been no fatalities, and no injuries. astounding really.

 

i would like to say that we were all calm and efficient...but its not true. we were terrified and a complete mess. the one that was most together was in fact jacob. he took it all very calmly. he even went door to door of about 40 neighbors to check that everybody was ok. panic is an understatement. we were all asleep. it was 7 am on a sunday. the crew in kona were also very hungover from their exploits sat night. your mind simply doesn't recognize what is happening. 6.7 is WAY up there. and we have no experience of this kind of thing. none. and it lasted for a long time. i was frozen with fear. we all were. all the neighbor we talked to. all the friends frantically calling each other's cell phones, some of which started working reasonably quickly, some didn't. we didn't know it was an earthquake until we heard it on the Maui station. and that immediately cut out. me and hubby thought it might be pill/pot or whoever it is in charge of Korea, or something horrible/nasty like that. i was glad i was able to speak to zoe so quickly. and then there's the euphoria. its a hell of a rush!!! and all that adrenalin/endomorphines adds to the surrealism of it all. everything it out of tilt. my legs still feel 'weird'. like my knees are out of sync with my hips. but outside its bright and still. (too still) (still too still) all the trees and plants have shaken loose anything dead or dying, it all looks sparkly. i slept really well..(but that was aided by the beer and whatnot).but even today my hands are still a bit shaky. i thank god for my existence. for my family and my friends. i still feel high. and i just love everyone and everything.

 

So great to hear from you Laurie and that you and yours are ok. My first reaction was to try and find my address book and remind myself of exactly where you were on the islands. Hey, if you need any home comforts replacing then PM me as I'm out to Old Blighty in December and can save you international postage

Just relieved to hear you are ok Welcome back.

 

I knew I had started a thread wondering if Laurie felt this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6053796.stm

..wondered where that thread went....

 

Kept looking for your name on since yesterday. Everyone was concerned for your safety. Scary stuff, I know, California grown here. I tend to run in circles, works for me. Glad your OK!

 

Alot of stuff is gone, they had a problem and had to reformat? Is that correct?

 

So glad to hear you and yours are all ok.
Lots of clean up though.
Take care

 

thank you all. yes i am going to be picking peices of glass out of things for ever. sad about the mirror. dont suppose i will ever be able to afford to replace it. just seems so strange as i potter about doing my stuff. i've just put a load of laundry on and the clotheshorse has been hurled against the side of the laundry room and has shattered across the open beams. little splinters of wood, and great jagged pieces everywhere. the house has apparently shifted about 3 inches according to hubby, which accounts for the vague seasick feeling. the cable keeps cutting in and out. and i dont suppose i should really be using the puter, but what the hell. there is no way of keeping in touch with the out side world if there is an emergancy of any sort. everything goes down. we did at one point toy with the idea that it was a rip in the time space continuum. our lodger, who is ex-jehova's witness, thought it was the rapture. (?) i didnt think it was the end of the world, but i did think it might be nucliar. i'm glad you are all still here!

 

So glad that you are ok, Laurie!

Maggie

 

I've never had the pleasure of posting with you Laurie, but I want you to know that I'm very happy that you and yours are ok.

Living here in So Cal, we are "somewhat" earthquake prepared, but only in the sense that we know that we live where they occur frequently and they are not a huge surprise when they do happen. When one does occur, we only pray that it's not the big one. Personally,I always hope that my family is together, big one or not.

 

well.. funny story.. ha ha ha...I've always been told that the earthquakes in hawaii are not REAL earthquakes. that REAL earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates, and hawaiian earthquake...remember the ones that are not real.... are caused by the bubbling of lava under the rock. certainly the 'earthquakes' i have experienced up to now could hardly be called a quake, more a gentle rippling in the biomass. so what a load of BS that all was. i am still a little concerned that there is something else going on. its just too still. I'm half expecting the volcano to blow.

 

Well, if it was the rapture this must been Geek Heaven I can't think of a nice gang of people to be there with

Seriously though, glad everyone appears to be ok. A big clear up operation however. If you need anything, just post up. I'll help out however I can and I'm sure others would be happy to be of assistance wherever possible.

 

ah you are all so sweet. but we are really ok. lost some 'stuff' but hey, its only 'stuff'. less stuff to have to move!! there are some bridges, roads, harbors, walls, smoke stacks, etc that have tumbled but there do not appear to be any injuries. i am surprised there weren't people dead by the thousands. from heart attack if nothing else

 

About every 20 years in California we get one that bad. You sound like me, after I wait for the really big one, can't get much bigger then that. The aftershocks can be scary too.
I worked with a guy during holidays at flower shops. He told a story of his new baby and an earthquake (in the 70's). He jumped out of bed grabbed the new baby and waited for it to end. The baby grew up moved away when his wife broke the news she was pregnant. Almost 20 years later another big one hit (in the 90's). He jumped out of bed grabbed the new baby and waited for it to end.
I'm sorry for you, you sound like you had a lot of damage. Thank heaven it wasn't your family.

 

Glad to hear you're OK Laurie, although sorry about the "things" that got broken. But your head and heart are in the right place. The "things" that matter most are family and friends, and those most definitely come first.

Nothing give you an appreciation for life like something that makes you think you might lose it. That's a very special high, and requires no chemicals.

 

I think the beer and pot prevented the heart attacks from occuring. Seriously though, I'm glad you and yours are ok, and everyone else that lives there for that matter. It's a nice change to hear about a disaster that doesn't result in serious injury or death.

 

So glad you and the family are physically okay, Laurie.

Sorry about all the breakages and glass shards. At least your safe now.

 

Glad you and yours are OK, Laurie . . . Not a "real" earthquake, huh . . . I can relate to that. Years ago my town was hit by a large storm with "tornado-like" winds, the weather experts said . . . even though the damage (fortunatly the most damage was to a park - uprooted, twisted trees and such) was pretty much what you would see during an "actual" tornado . . . it wasn't one, they said.

ummm, I'm just a geek, and not a specialist in such matters - but in my layman's opinion if the earth moves, it's a freaking earthquake!!!!

A rose by any other name . . .

 

I remember about 4 years ago being online at home in the UK, when suddenly my desktop, monitor, chair all started shaking uncontrollably. I went and looked out the window, convinced a truck must have crashed into the building, but also aware that I hadn't heard any noise. This was obviously way smaller than the quake in Hawaii, but very unusual to the UK. It shocked my cockatiel so much (remember the pics I posted of Baz?) that he fell of his perch! Damage was nothing, but it certainly shakes you up when the solid ground you walk on starts doing weird stuff.

That was the 3rd minor quake I've experience in the UK alone.

 

well post damage is still going on. the weather is still very odd. after the stillness of yesterday the sky's have opened. all the loose rock etc., are now being brought down by the rain. our roof leaks, and so this morning i have woke to a flooded house. the day looks beautifull and clear, but again too still. there have been several after shocks, but only minor ripples. (once again they assure us that these aren't 'real' after shocks, but the island 'simply leveling itself') there is nothing 'simple' about the idea of an island 'leveling itself' lol. one of my dining room chairs is split in half. lots of homes have significant damage. the homes here are very poorly constructed, little more than two x fours banged together with plyboard. this slipshod construction has allowed the houses to move and twist without collapsing, but most are on 'post and pier' and, like ours, have shifted off of one or more of their blocks. bruce says our house will have to be jacked up to be repaired. fortunately we move next week, so its SEP. (somebodyelsesproblem). the very rich have suffered exponentially. the more solid the building, the more the damage. and of course the more expensive the 'stuff' is, the more the dollar amounts add up. if there is another 'bad one' a lot of these homes will not survive. with any luck this whole episode will put off the rich from coming here. we have officially been declared a disaster area. (which is so odd when to the immediate eye everything is serene and beautiful). my poor brother, after the surprise of finding himself still alive, was immediately terrified that i wasnt. they were told that the second shock was caused by the tip of the island breaking off into the sea. (and we are at the tip) like us they couldnt believe that the cell phones didnt work, radio stations didnt work, total communication breakdown. he said he was so relieved when he finally got through to me that he was crying, but didnt want me to know. ah bless. they raced home and said it was like a scene from a moon landing. massive rocks and boulders, giant splits in the roads, etc. fortunately they managed to get through before the roads were officially closed. a lot of the roads are still closed, most of the schools are out. kona harbor is closed and food and stuff is being routed to hilo, but the road between hilo and kona is closed so this might get interesting. i am still in a wierd sort of shock. one of the things that sticks in my mind is the thought that it wasnt 'us' but 'you' the rest of the world that had in fact gone t*ts up. if that ever happens hawaii will never find out what went on. we will simply be here and everybody else will be gone. its a horrible thought, like something out of a movie.

 

oooh trippy. ive just walked round my land, and its not just the house thats slightly out of kilter, its the entire acre i live on, and all the land everywhere. somehow this hadnt occured to me. some shifts in the ground pattern i can see, some i can just feel, that seasick like thing. it is beyond odd.

 

You express yourself fantastically Laurie, and it gives me a real deep understanding of how your emotions and thoughts must have and still are racing through the disaster of it all. It must have hit hard to wake up to a flood in your home, after everything you have already endured

I've been wondering where you are planning to move to, what it is like in that part, and what the state of the house is in that you are moving to, if you even know as yet.

 

I know I'm a little late, but I'm soooo glad to hear you are Ok!!!!

I've never experienced that kind of situation, so I can't say that I can imagine how you feel. However, I can imagine that you are shook up, STILL!!

I'm sure it feels good to get things off your chest in this situation, so as you know...we are all here to listen!!!! And the firsthand updates are VERY interesting, to say the least!!!!

Keep the head up high, and the beer flowing!!

Roger

 

well i drove through the two 'towns' yesterday to see my new landlord and check on things for this weekend. (thanks for the reminder lev). she wasn't there but the house looked ok. we are moving to just the other side of Kapa'au which is about 5mils down the road. i was looking carefully at the post earthquake scenery, and to be honest, to the naked eye it all looks untouched. the roads have been cleared, and although there is the rubble at the sides of the roads, people have generally cleared the road in front of them. the telephone poles are all at odd angles, but hubby says they may always have been that way, this being the least efficient place on the planet. hubby also says the still, close weather is not really an anomaly, or the accompanying storms. the earthquake WAS an anomaly, and the tendency is to start linking things that are happening at the same time. the only damage i could see to anything was one half built house that had got to the framing stage, and collapsed like matchsticks. the only other building was.... you're gonna love this....the bank. the bank, of course, was made of bricks and concrete and has an inch wide crack down both sides. the building has, quite neatly, broken in half. a friend traveled the mountain road yesterday and said the same thing. no damage except to a little jutty out bit that had space to pull a few cars over, and was labeled 'the scenic point'. there is no more little jutty out bit. the edge of the road is now the edge of the road. but the 'scenic' bit is identical and awesome. so i thought i would send pictures. the first map is were we live and were we're going. the larger map coincidently has a lighter gray square just south west of us, and that is approximately where the epicenter was. the third is a picture of hawi. this is my 'town' this is all there is. it has a restaurant, a video store, a liquor store a small supermarket, a post office, a BAR with a pool table, and a coffee shop that plays jam sessions on sundays. and thats it really. kapa'au doesn't have any of that. it has several local art galleries, one cafe, the bank, and the police station/court house/welfare department. its all very quaint, isnt it.

 

this is a picture of our house. and one of the no longer scenic point. (and our friend barry)