September 5: Our take on the quake

By now you're probably well aware that a massive 7.6 earthquake struck Costa Rica around 8:40am this morning.  We are very grateful that we're safe and that there was no serious damage or injuries in Quepos.

ANGELINA, where were you when the earthquake happened and what were you doing?
I was upstairs in school with mom and three other students.

Tell us about what the earthquake was like from your perspective:
I thought I was dizzy and then I looked at everybody else that was in the room and they were shaking too.  One of the students shouted ‘earthquake!’ so we ran downstairs.

Were you nervous? 
Sort of.  I was afraid there would be more.

How did other students respond?
Emily shouted at Nazareth, “Stop shaking my desk!” and then Nazareth said, “I’m not doing anything!”  That’s when they figured out it was an earthquake but their class didn’t even go downstairs.

When did students start getting more upset?
When parents started rushing to school saying there was a tsunami warning and they were coming to take their kids home.  Then a lot of students got nervous and started to cry, including me.

When did you start feeling better about the whole situation?
When we found out the tsunami warning was cancelled.


NATHAN, where were you when the earthquake happened and what were you doing?
 I was in our backyard feeding monkeys.

Is it normal to feed monkeys in your backyard?
Of course.  Everybody does it nowadays.  Just kidding.  It’s the first time we were able to do it.  We have seen them before but they just haven’t come close enough.

What did you feed them and how many were there?
A banana.  There were four but only two came close enough to feed.

What did the monkeys do when you felt the earthquake?
Right before the earth started moving the monkeys started squealing.

How did you figure out it was an earthquake?
I said something to dad about feeling lightheaded and then he said the same thing and we realized it was an earthquake because some rocks started moving.

How did the neighbors respond?
They came out of their house and into the backyard next to ours.  Their power went out.

What did you think when you heard there were tsunami warnings?
I found that out when I arrived at school with dad.  I wasn’t very nervous even though some kids at school were crying.


GEORGE’S take:    Nathan and I were home this morning taking care of some chores.   We were in the “backyard”, where there is a small seating area and then a slope up the hill behind us.  Our task was to build a shelf in order to organize our shoes a little better.   We were busy drilling holes and screwing pieces together when we heard some noises in the trees up the slope.   “It’s the monkeys!”, Nathan exclaimed after looking up into the rustling branches.  We have seen them once or twice before higher up the slope but this time they came quite close.   As we watched them search for nuts, fruit and insects they made occasional squeals among each other to signal all was well.  Then the neighbors dogs started barking furiously and all of a sudden the monkeys ran up the hill in alarm hooting to each other. 
     I guess animals really do have a better sense of things than we do because we still did not clue in for another 30 seconds or so that something strange was going on.   At first I simply thought I was suffering a major dizzy spell from having been bent over the shelf working on it.  It was a very strange sensation.  But when Nathan said he was shaking then I knew it was not just me and we looked around and noticed some pebbles rolling around near us.  Everything was vibrating and we spread our feet a little bit to steady ourselves.  The whole event probably lasted a little under a minute and then it was over.  Out on the street people were coming out of their houses and were visibly upset and shaken.  Our neighbor confirmed that it had been an earthquake and that the power was out.   Since we did not see any damage in our vicinity we soon went back to our tasks . . . and even went to the school not realizing that it had been more serious than we had thought.  It was the most powerful earthquake in Costa Rica since 1991.  We had been spared the worst as we were about 100 miles from the reported epicenter and the Tsunami warnings were soon cancelled.  Frazzled nerves were about the worst of our damage.  Nothing beats a real life Science and Biology lesson in the backyard on a Wednesday morning, right?

Sophia:  declined to interview saying she doesn't want to think about it again :)

Jane:  my take is similar to Angelina's since we were together in an upstairs classroom with Sophia and two other students.  I was standing up and felt like I got really dizzy all of a sudden but then felt the floor shaking too.  I looked outside and saw the wires were moving and looked back at the students staring at me with stunned faces.  We then all figured it out that it was an earthquake.

Two things are particularly memorable for me.  The first is that when we got to the bottom of the stairs I took a look at Sophia.  I had NEVER seen her so white.  It took her a while to get her color back. And second, I'm using the book "The Power of a Praying Kid" for devotions with my first block students. This morning we were working through the chapter on WHEN I AM AFRAID.  We talked about what fears kids have and talked about the top 10 list of kids' fears according to the book.  Included in that list is 'natural disasters like earthquakes and tornados'.  When students started crying and getting upset with the news of a possible tsunami it was great to be able to reference back to our devotional just a few minutes before!