And so I have experienced my first real earthquake. Not those minor little tremors that Singapore may get and you’ll only feel if your 50 storeys above the ground. I mean real tremors that you can feel at 5 storeys above ground. The type that rattles things and things can fall off shelves and stuff. The type that is strong enough to wake you up in the middle of the night. And I experienced not only one, but two! In the span of 5 minutes!
Thank God the quake wasn’t centred in Taipei but a city called Hualien which is a few hundred kilometres away. First quake measured 5.7. Really interesting experience. First reaction I had was to dive under the table but that felt silly so I did nothing but to hold on to the edges of the table I was at. As if that would really do any good. Second reaction was to run outside and downstairs and wait it out, lest the building collapsed on me. But in the end, I just sat there and waited it out, praying that nothing serious will come off it.
But seriously, I’m fine and am over it. Just that for a while after the quake, I felt as if the world was still moving around me. Until the next time, cheers… Þ