How to survive an earthquake

My eldest daughter has been reading my blog and suggested some events from our past that she felt would make interesting reading.  “Remember”, wrote Vavielle, “How we survived the earth quake”?  And I did remember.

5.9 Earthquake

 Were we on vacation in some foreign country?  No we were in our home in the small rural community of Fielding, New Brunswick. It was at 12:53 on January 9th, 1982, with an epicentre at Trousers Lake in remote Victoria County.  Although the earthquake was felt widely throughout the Maritime Provinces and the New England states, because of the remoteness of its location, the only damage reported was the development and extension of cracks in buildings and pavement at a few locations.  The main earthquake was followed by a long sequence of aftershocks, including one of 5.1 on the same day, another of 5.4 on January 11th, 1982 and one of 5.0 on March 31st, 1982.

However, we did not realize any of that scientific data.  My house was shaking, the dishes were rattling and my children were crying.  I gathered them together and we huddled under the arch way in the living room. Good choice?   Not!   I have now done my research and the best place to be is to find a vertical face, sturdy, like the back of a couch, or against the side of a kitchen counter (without a big lip).

It may seem like you should shelter under a table, but this is not such a good idea. If the quake takes your home, the roof and ceiling will fall down and collapse the table, leaving you a small space. There would be little place to move, no ventilation, and probably injuries. Do NOT shelter in a doorway. That is a myth. The action of an earthquake can twist a doorway and snap it like a two twigs.

5.2 eathquake

I found later that our earthquake measured between 5 and 6 on the Richter scale.  Worldwide, 1,319 earthquakes of this magnitude occur each year.

Our 1982 quake lasted only a few minutes yet it was time for me, like the broody hen, to gather my chicks under my wings.  I may not have chosen the best place to make my stand. But I acted and provided security for the girls. And now some thirty years later we can laugh together about surviving the earthquake.

But, No one asked me how to survive an earthquake.