What to do if an Earthquake strikes?
I didn’t know I could run so fast at 3am in the morning.
Currently, I am in Bali, Indonesia... At 3am last night my villa started shaking and I waited for a fraction of second to see if I wasn’t still dreaming because its not the first earthquake I’ve felt… I woke up my boyfriend Connor, then immediately... the doors began banging violently, windows started shaking, the bed was rocking, and the entire house was rumbling…
I hear Connor say: ‘OH SHIT’!!
…No matter what happens, Connor always stays super freaking chill. But this time it was a little different. We jumped out of bed and headed outside as fast as we could.
I yelled at my sister (who is visiting us for a month) to get the hell out of bed and get outside. She followed us out the room and down the stairs as the quake alarm was going off, she was so disoriented and headed down the staircase she slips and Connor stops to catch her, here he realizes that she still has her sleep-eye patch on. So she basically wasn’t disoriented…She was just running blindfolded! 🙈
Meantime I realise that I am butt naked. 😂
Made it downstairs now we needed to open the door.. but it was locked..and I couldn’t find the key. My heart rate was going nuts! 🥜
Connor opens a different door, we get outside to see our pool sending mini tidal waves from the quake…we’re clear of the house and I can finally breath. Then realising I am not the only one naked standing outside… Connor also fully nude, as well as my friends standing there butt naked.
Pretty funny scene 😂
The earthquake stopped but my body was shaking for at least another hour.
This all happened within what felt like a fraction of a second…
One of the scariest moments of my life for sure.
This might be a funny story, but lets think of the people who don’t have a stable villa to stay in and have lost everything in the past few weeks during the quakes and tsunamis here in Indonesia.
What can you do to stay safe during an earthquake?
During the Quake I wasn’t thinking clear, all I could think of was getting the hell out of the house before it would crumble into pieces.
But apparently that wasn’t the right move… I basically did everything I could have done… WRONG.
If you are indoors during an earthquake, take cover by getting under a sturdy table and HOLD ON until the quake stops. If there isn’t anything you can hide under near you, cover your head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building. BUT stay away from windows, outside doors and walls.
Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes while protecting your head with a pillow.
What I did? I jumped out of bed and started running… apparently that was COMPLETELY WRONG.
Do not use a doorways except if you know it is a strongly supported, load-bearing doorway and it is close to you. Many inside doorways are lightly constructed and do not offer protection.
HAHA.. I crossed 3 doorways on my way to the exit.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Stay inside until the shaking stops. Do not exit a building during the quake. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to try to leave.
Ps. You should consider changing your door lock on the inside to a turn latch so you aren’t stressing to find a key in case of emergency like I was…
XOXO Ellen
