My very first Earthquake!
At about 9:30 am, the building began to “rumble”. It felt like that house was on a railway and a HUGE train was passing by. That description is the only frame of reference I have for explaining what I experienced. Hassina and I just remained in our seats (I was holding on my desk) in an “about to get up position”. I think we weren’t sure if we should run out of the house or stay in. Frankly, I was doing whatever I saw Hassina do. The rest of the staff briskly left the room, not sure why….leaving Hassina and I, half in our seats, half ready to run out of the building. Meanwhile in my mind, I was calculating the number of steps it would take to grab my passport and my laptop a.k.a Czarina—my one prized possession. Fortunately, it last for probably 45 seconds. “Afghanistan lies on the southern fringe of the Eurasian plate.” (http://cires.colorado.edu/~bilham/Afghan.pdf) As a result, it collides with the Arabian Plate to the south and Indian plate to the southeast. After the really short quake, I couldn’t help but think that the Afghanistan is not just plagued with the aftermath of 23 years of war, bombs going off everyday, but earthquakes as well! Almost too much to contend with all in one place…
Tags: Travel
szmakka
Wow! The people of Afghanistan certainly do have alot to contend with. Thank you again for being on the ground to report your direct experiences.
Nancy