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Thursday, November 5, 2009
5:30 PM It was beginning to get dark, as my 2 friends and I walked into Carrefour, the local grocery store, where we do our grocery shopping ever week. The building is about 4 stories high. The building itself contains a grocery store, several small clothes shops, a bookstore, food court, and parking garage. You can pretty much get anything there.

5:32 PM As we walk to the carts, I hear a loud rumble/shaking noise. "What was that?" I thought. We stood still trying to decide what the noise was. Was someone putting carts away, or perhaps the loud fans that randomly go on...

5:32 PM Not three seconds later the entire building began shaking and the loud rumble once again sounded. I heard panicked shouts and screems. It was an earthquake. We were standing just 30 feet from the main entrance/exit. I yelled for the girls to run, and as we sprinted for the door I remember thinking, "How can this be happening? This doesn't feel real? This feels like something that would happen in a dream!" I vividly remember those split seconds as I ran out of the building, expecting the walls to start falling, wondering if I'd make it out in time (a bit extreme, I know, but I was pretty scared, and was remembering the large earthquake in Nantou county that had toppled buildings just 10 years ago).

Jump back in time....
September 21, 1999

1:47 AM The people of Taiwan were shaken awake by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake, the worst earthquake in Taiwan since 1935. Lasting for about 46 (?) seconds, the severe shaking toppled buildings and buildings. Five aftershocks within 30 minutes of the first one measuring around 6.0-magnitude, caused even more damage to the already severally damaged cities. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Nantou county, and over 2,000 people died. Many houses, schools, and other buildings collapsed that night. At the time, the horrors of that earthquake were etched in the minds of thousands of people. My friends have told me first hand accountants of what they remember from that night.

As a result of the 9/21 disaster, it's not uncommon for elementary and junior high students in Nantou county to live with a relative, because there parents died in the earthquake.

Back to yesterday....

5:32 PM Amazingly the automatic sliding door was already open and once we were out of the building we turned around to look back inside. The rumbling had stopped. Second guessing myself, I began wondering whether it had been an earthquake or something else. The stoplights were swaying back and forth. People began whipping out cellphones and calling family and friends. It had been an earthquake. Adrenaline pumped through my body, and the panic stricken feeling did not leave as quickly as it had come.

5:34 PM Our hearts still racing, we reluctantly ventured back into the store. The grocery shopping had to be done. As we shopped, we noticed all sorts of spills and broken things on the ground, that had fallen off the shelves during the earthquake. A manikin had toppled from his high shelf and pathetically lay in the center aisle. A bag of flour here, a dozen eggs there, a few cartons of milk, a jar of jam, bottles of shampoo; they all contributed to the mess that the employees were going to have to clean up. What surprised me most was when I saw the large wine display. The shaking had knocked about half of the glass bottles to the ground, making a huge mess of broken glass and wine on the floor.

7:30 (?) PM later that evening
We had arrived home, unloaded our groceries, and were making dinner when a second earthquake came. It was not as severe as the first one, but it was still big. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was long enough for us to go outside.

Growing up in a state where "earthquakes" are not a problem, (I LOVE MINNESOTA) experiencing them here can be a little scary. Of natural disasters, I think earthquakes are one of my least favorite

Into today
November 6, 2009
9:30 AM Friday schools are a fun break from regular teaching. Today I taught 3 classes of first graders. The school we went to today was just hop, jump and a skip away. The second class of the three that I taught today was my favorite of the day. There classroom had been damaged by the earthquake the night before. There was a HUGE crack from wall to wall in the front and back of the classroom. There was also some damage in other places around the school. I anxious to see if any of my regular schools have damage.
Please continue to keep Taiwan in your prayers.

Josie 林以恩