Friday January 22nd 2010

I have been following the news about the earthquake in Haiti and my heart goes out to the victims there. I don't think that anyone can see the pictures of what is happening and not be moved.

On August 17th, 1999 at 3 o'clock in the morning an earthquake hit Izmir in Turkey which registered 7.6 on the Richter scale.

Let's put that into perspective. The earthquake that hit Haiti has been registered at 7.00 which is the equivalent of 32 megatonnes. The eathquake that hit Izmir was 7.5 which is the equivalent of 178 megatonnes. Five and a half times as much. But what made them both so devastating was that they struck in very populated areas and because so many people were affected.

I know because I was living in Istanbul at the time.

Charles was 7 at the time and had crawled into bed beside me as Steve was away in the United States on business. The first I knew was when I was awakened by the wardrobe door banging. I knew immediately what was going on. I had experienced a very minor quake in Cebu Philippines in 1996 but nothing compared to Istanbul. I looked out of the window and saw that swathes of the city were in darkness as the power was cut for fear of explosions.

We were living on the 2nd floor of an 8 storey apartment block and all I could think was that there were 6 storeys above me and the thought of it potentially coming down on top of us. I rushed to get Emma - then 4 years old and we hurried outside into the open air. It was cold even though it was summer but better to be cold than crushed under piles of rubble.

I looked around for somewhere to go with the children. I went to the swimming pool area but it was so wet and the pool water was down by about 4 feet. Confused, I thought for a minute and then realised that the sway of the ground had caused the water to swish from one end of the pool to the other and the pool to empty. Imagine the effect of sitting in a bath tub and moving very fast from one end to the other.

So we returned to the apartment complex and sat on the outdoor benches, waiting for the aftershocks to subside and for someone to tell us that it was safe to go inside again.

Now we experienced a surealistic sight. Remember that it was 3 o'clock in the morning and I had rushed out in nightclothes and thought of nothing to bring except the children. About half an hour later, one of my neighbours exited the apartment complex, cell phone in one hand, cigarette in the other, fully clothed, handbag and full make up. This woman had decided that she couldn't possibly leave a swaying building without clothes and make up. Go figure.

Nobody knows how many people died that night in Turkey and I suspect that no one will really know how many people are victims in Haiti. But everytime I hear about an earthquake somewhere in the world I offer up a silent prayer of thanks.