I flew overnight from Santiago, Chile, to Dallas and Im not in the Dallas airport USO as of this moment. As a parting gift from the nation of Chile, while I was at the airport (in the airport bathroom in fact) a 6.4 Richter scale earthquake shook the ground. It lasted for 30 to 40 seconds according to the US Geological Survey, but felt much longer (I would have guesstimated 2 minutes). Airport shops had some of their goods on upper shelves fall down. In some shops that meant quite a lot of glass goods like plates and other gift items breaking. There were a few tiny cracks in walls and windows, but only a few. Chilean buildings are well-made. I felt thankful that I had finished using the toilet as I walked across swaying ground and stood in the doorway to the bathroom, because Ive read somewhere doorways are structurally stronger than any old general patch of ceiling, generally speaking. It seemed like a carnival ride with regular rocking and swaying that seemed to last forever and caused me to visualize the ceiling collapsing. A few people screamed but not many. When the ground stopped moving, the Chileans and I went about our business like nothing had ever happened. Ive been in a brief earthquake before that was strong enough to feel (I think it was a 4.1 or something) but that was nothing like the experience I had last night. I am of course thankful to God it wasnt worse. But to be fully honest, I actually kind of enjoyed the experience. Now I know first hand what an earthquake feels like, at least a relatively minor one. This will feed into something I write someday :)
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 13:02:08 +0000
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