We go outside and there are people flooding out of the buildings. Students were coming out of the library, staff were running around asking if everyone was ok. We eased our way across campus and we went to the student union to post on facebook there had been an earthquake. As we were heading back to our dorm rooms we had been stopped by some R.A.'s and talked with them about proper earthquake protocol and what your supposed to do if you ever experience one. They told us to lay down against your bed, so if anything falls it will create a triangle to protect you. But it wasn't over yet.......again, I felt the ground move. I look up and I can see the trees moving, the buildings swaying and my feet were feeling movement beneath them.
It was an aftershock. It almost felt bigger than the actual earthquake itself. People just stood still, quietly, and there eyes got big until it ended. I quickly made my way back to my dorm. I knew I had to send home a message telling them what was happening and that I was okay. I quickly emailed Dad, hoping he would get it before he heard the news. Then...there was a knock on my door.....they were evacuation us form our halls and flats. The school was scanning the buildings and areas for any structural damage. They made it sound like it would only take ten minutes. As we waited out in the rain for the inspection the air got colder. It was more bitter and sharp. They finally told us to move over to the gym in the recreation center. We waited another 40minutes until they told us to move to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was a "safe building", it was "structurally sound" as they said.
Then we waited....and waited. And suddenly i felt my chair move, I see the lights sway from the ceiling and the room get dead silent. I could hear the building squeak and shake. A few seconds later it was over. However, every time we had a shock they started the building inspections all over again. We waited four hours and in that time our group of students from CSU played scrabble and tried to make the most of the situation. It wasn't until 5:10 that we were released and could go back to our dorms.
However, during holding we heard that the Cathedral had collapsed. It felt heartbreaking. I was there just a week ago and I kept seeing all of the images on the T.V. It all just seemed so surreal. Among all of this chaos, my German friend Felix, had gone to the city that day to get shoes. He had asked me to join, but I didn't want to spend any more money so I said maybe later. Well...we had no word if he was okay or not. I start feeling guilty, I should have gone. I'm seeing images of crushed buses, toppled buildings, screaming people and I couldn't do a thing about it.
I hustled back to my dorm to grab my computer. I had emails out the waazooo. I first emailed Dad and Mom saying I'm ok and I'll talk to them soon. After diner I was able to calm everyone down and talk to my parents. However, during our talk we had aftershocks...Dad was able to see it over my web cam. I then Skyped Karla, ans she saw me go through two more aftershocks. I made my way back to my dorm room where I decided to relax and the shocks just kept coming. One after another, they were relentless. While I slept I felt my bed shake and move from the wall, all through the night they continued.
This morning I felt another while I was blow drying my hair. Its been an hour since then so we will see how the rest of the day turns out. Please pray for those who were hurt yesterday.
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