whats it like to be in an earthquake????

Answer 1

I can tell you about this. I am Mexican and I was in the 1985 earthquake of Mexico City.

In that time I was 18 and I was in the equivalent of high school. It was 7:19 in the morning and I was talking with a classmate. Suddenly I felt my chair was moving and I was thought my mate was joking me but he told me with surprise: It is an earthquake!

To tell you the truth until that moment, to feel the movement was funny to me. I liked to see how trees and external lamps moved around. The problem was that earthquake continue and continue as minutes went by.
It was so violent in the peak of intensity that I almost fell to ground. Never I have felt so intense an earthquake until that terrible 1985.

Our female classmates were in horror and we tried to calm them down. Fortunately 1:45 minutes after, the movement ceased and we relax. Buildings around did not fell so I did not know what was the magnitude of the phenomena in other locations of Mexico City.

I could return home noting that there were no easy available transportation. I was no informed yet about the tragedy in downtown. When I arrived to home my mother was terrified because we lived in a fourth flat and in that heights the movement is felt more intense.

There were no television images because the most important chain felt down (Televisa). I woke up to the real situation when signal return and I could see the images of devastation in downtown. The day after we felt the second earthquake and I was home with my mother being my sister outside.

In that moment, I felt the real horror because light went out and could hear the sounds of doors slapping and walls and roof almost to crack. Fortunately our building was very solid and we were in a zone that soil is stone-based.

Two days later I could go to downtown in order to help to remove stuff from fallen buildings, there was chaos in streets and fear in the eyes of the people waiting another movement.

Fortunately Mexicans showed solidarity in those terrible moments and we could build up the parts of city that were damaged. The city was not totally destroyed as most international media showed to the world. Mexico City is a very big one and although there were a lot of death people and numerous building fell in, you could see no much changes in general appearance of the city.

I can tell you that I was lucky to survive but from that moment on, every slight movement makes me nervous but I try to calm down because there is no other way to save your life.

Hope you do not have to experience a sensation like me, never.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Kind of fun, if you're not worried about stuff crashing down on top of you. There's a first sideways jolt, usually, then the ground rolls in waves, and the sound of leaves on the trees shaking like in a high wind, and everything is swaying. That's a big quake, like the 1989 Loma Prieta in SF (which I experienced). Little ones, you may feel the jolt or just some jiggling, like a big truck going by.
At some science museums there are "shake tables" where you can stand and it simulates an earthquake under you.
We're lucky in California to have high engineering standards--even with big earthquakes, there's relatively little damage and almost no loss of life. So we can sit back and enjoy the ride!

Answer 3

I was visiting California in the mid 1980's when I was awoken by my bed shaking and I heard tiles falling off the roof. I had heard that during an earthquake you are supposed to get under a doorframe, however, I didn't have time to react. Before I knew it, it was over and pictures were all tipsy throughout my grandmother's house.

We were lucky that there wasn't any serious damage and that we were all okay.

Answer 4

I kind of enjoy it actually. I was born/raised in S. CA and have been thru numerous earthquakes. There are different types, some shake, some jolt and some roll. The rollers are the best, feels like you are standing on waves of water. The shakers aren't as fun, and the jolters are kind of scary.

Overall, I liked them...but then again, I was raised with them.

Answer 5

I lived through the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. It was pretty hairy. It started out as a small shaking and then got bigger. The floor was moving side to side, and the walls were bending side to side.

Answer 6

There are so many kinds! Some are kinda scary. I've felt some that were little more than a rumbling noise, like a truck passing by. Others move you back and forth almost like an amusement ride. As long as it doesn't destroy anything, it can almost be fun, in a scary sort of way.

Answer 7

Awesome; scary. I've been in 3 big ones: Mexico, 1957; California, 1974; Kobe, Japan, 1995.
Kobe was the strongest. It lasted about 6 seconds, killed 6000 people and destroyed billions of dollars of property.

Answer 8

Its a very strange sensation, I was in one in France which had a magnitude of 4 (i think) about 50 miles from where I was. It didn't last long but it was a bit like being on a boat, but it was great because I got to ask my girlfriend if the earth moved for her too!

Answer 9

I live in Seattle Washington and a few years ago we had a pretty big one and I can give you my impression of it. Basically, it sounded like you were in a train tunnel and a train was going through. The sound sort of permeated my whole body as if my body was part of the tunnel. I was outside and could feel the ground move underneath me. Sort of like a really fast long wave. I could see telephone poles flipping back and forth and parked cars were literally bouncing.

Very very creepy.

Answer 10

Weird...........

I've been in quite a few tremors on the Greek islands (nothing major thankfully) but for a few moments the wildlife goes silent and it feels like all your reference points in life have gone. The stable ground no longer feels so stable. Once you realise what's happening, its all over.