The 2010 Earthquake in Chile.
Wow. What was that like?
Well, it was rather surreal when it comes to my personal experience, because despite living pretty close to the most damaged zones I didn't have to face any negative consecuences beyond the shock of the first days. I was lucky in the sense that the city in which I lived was spared of the worst type of damage due to the terrain (and the other cites of the region ended up badly damaged) and I didn't have to go through the horror that some faced when their houses were destroyed or when the tsunami claimed so many lives.
If I recall correctly I was asleep in the second floor of my house when it started, and for the first moments I barely gave any attention to it, until everything started to shake and my mother started to scream for me and my brother to go outside. Ridiculous as it might seem I didn't want to leave my room and I actually took the time to secure my computer and my bookshelf and prevent them from falling to the floor. Then I had to climb down the stairs while everything moved and wait for it to end at the main door.
Because the city was somewhat protected by the terrain and the house was well built I believe the only thing that broke down was a vase (which is ridiculous when you compare with the devastation of the coastal zones), and I spent the rest of the night feeling a bit nonchalant because I was really unaware of how bad it had really been. It took two or three days for electricity to return and in the meantime I realized just how bad it was by listening to the radio and seeing the damaged areas of the city, and once internet returned I had the shock of seeing the worst parts of the aftermath.
From there on it was about a year or so of constant aftershocks, and I guess the more memorable one (leaving the early one in the middle of President Piņera's inaguration day aside) was one that came while I was on the beach a year after, in a zone that had been badly damaged. Needless to say the beach was empty within the minute as everybody ran in fear of another tusnami (my mother included, I remained nonchalant), and for many people than sense of paranoia was really hard to ignore. I suppose the bright side (if any personal bright side can be found in such and event) is that I was in a good place to face the earthquake, and I discovered that I could remain very calm during those situations, which is a bit surreal if one thinks about it...
Poll
