The day I thought I was gonna die

After the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan last Wednesday another earthquake rocked the country last Friday having a magnitude of 9.0. The strongest earthquake to hit the country and the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than one that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand last month.

Sa lakas ng lindol nung Biyernes akala ko mamamatay nako. As of this writing/typing I am still restless. The earthquake started last Friday March 11, 2011at 2:46PM JST and hanggang kanina meron pa ring mga aftershocks. Sa dami ng aftershocks diko na mabilang. it's just so fuckin' unbelievable. it was different from the previous earthquakes that I experienced here.


I was at the office when the earthquake happened. We are located at the 6th floor. Napalipas na namin yung takot namin nung lumindol ng Miyerkules. It was a normal Friday afternoon. We were waiting for the 3 o'clock break. Then the ground started shaking. Up and down. We stared at each other as fear started to creep in. Then we were swaying sideways. It was getting stronger. Someone shouted to grab our helmets and hide under our desks just like what we do in the earthquake drill. I started crying. I thought I was going to die. I was trying to reach Ate Joy's hand but we were separated by our cabinets. The building was swaying violently. Up and down then sideways. Things on our desks were starting to fall. Our drawers sliding out. The shaking won't stop. The sound was deafening. I was crying and praying and was thinking bout my loved ones in the Philippines esp. Basuraman. I have never been that scared in my entire life. According to some news the quake lasted for 3-5 minutes. I was asking God to stop the shaking. If God has to take my life at that moment then let His will be done. As I am writing this entry I am crying and the tears won't stop from falling. Everytime I remember that situation I can't help but cry. I am still scared. I am really really scared. Hindi ko akalain na yung nakikita ko lang sa TV na nangyayari sa mga offices sa Japan e mararanasan ko rin.

We went out of our desks as soon as the shaking starts to weaken. I was still crying and shaking. There were still aftershocks and they were strong. But there was no immediate instruction for us to evacuate the building. The 6 of us (the only Filipinos on the floor) were starting to panic. We wanted to get out of the building as soon as possible. But we waited for instructions. We tried to remain calm just like our Japanese colleagues. Kawamura-san instructed everyone to fall in line so that the persons in charge of the disaster committee can start counting. We stayed for another 10 minutes while the building was continuing to sway because of the aftershock. It was so painful I wanted to faint. We ran as soon as we were ordered to go down.

We were directed in a futsal field located within the vicinity of the company. We saw how the glasses of our building moved and the antenna on top of the building swayed. I was trying to call Basuraman and my mom but the phone line was down. By 4 o'clock we were instructed to return to our floor. With what had happened we opted to go home. Good thing is we just bike the office from our place. All public transportation was suspended. I immediately called Basuraman and my mom as soon as I got connection to inform them that I was safe. We were very lucky because there was still an internet connection when we reached our apartments. Thank goodness there's facebook. I was able to communicate with my loved ones and friends through it.

Thank God we are safe and we are far from the coastline. Many cities in Miyagi prefecture were literally wiped out. Kalunus-lunos talaga ang nangyari sa Japan. Especially those who were hit by the tsunami.

Yesterday we went to the nearest grocery store in our place to stock some food. Better be prepared. I wanted to cry when I saw the situation in the store. There was no bread. Paubos na ang mga cup noodles. The number of people shopping was not normal. They were panic buying. Diyos ko ni hindi ko naranasan ang ganito sa Pinas. Pinigilan ko na lang sarili ko na huwag umiyak.

Because of the effect of the quake in the nuclear plant in Fukushima, rotating power outages will be implemented tomorrow Monday. Earlier this evening the schedules were already announced. No electricity in our place from 9:20- 13:00 and 18:20-22:00. Ang lamig pa mandin ngayon. Buti na lang may isa pa akong comforter. Lamigin pa mandin ako. Hindi namin alam kung hanggang kailan yung brownout rotation but according to Kuya Mylo hanggang katapusan daw ng Abril. I hope there will be no further damages in the nuclear plants.


Thank you Lord for keeping us safe.

Thank you for all the prayers. Sa mga nag-alala sa kalagayan ko maraming salamat. Ngayon ko nalaman na marami palang nagmamahal sakin.

Please continue to pray for us. For Japan. For the safety of everyone. With what's happening to our world we do not know what will happen next.

Be safe everyone. May God bless us all.