06 feb 2012.
my day was not starting well at all.
after only a few meters from our driveway, i realized i was running flat and had to turn around. first time to replace a flat tire with my dad’s help and it was not much fun at all. after getting sitti’s fuel tank filled and the flat tire vulcanized (or in the dialect, pabulkit hehe), i got to to office just in time for the regular sync call.
and then it happened. i thought our officemate who just passed me was too light to possibly make my desk tremble. then the trembling went stronger and lasted probably 15 seconds. not that i am a stranger to earthquakes given that i have experienced a few in japan and a strong one in manila. but this was different. it started with an up-down motion which was different from the usual swaying that happens. we at the office just looked at each other and laughed – nervous laughter that is :). so typical of filipinos, really. the electricity went out, and we went abuzz with jokes and stories and soon after, everything seemed normal. i was kind of scared for my car since i was parked at the 2nd floor. silly in retrospect, as it always is.
then boyfie called and said where i was since most of the people around IT park had already been evacuated from the buildings and were already in the usual evacuation area. apparently, only our floor has not been evacuated. or no one bothered to inform us. had it been a stronger quake, we wouldn’t have known what hit us.
there was the usual warnings of aftershocks but it was really disconcerting for most was the threat of a tsunami. i did not really mind that since i thought for cebu to be hit by a tsunami, it would have to be a really big one since cebu is protected on all sides by different, bigger islands.
however, people took it seriously. and someone was so stupid to start spreading rumors that carcar is already flooded, colon/mabolo/ was already in enough water to cause alarm. and the panic came. only seriously sick people would start a joke like this. perhaps it was not a joke but then again, starting something that causes panic is just sick. people though should start verifying facts first before believing in things.
if there’s one thing that’s clear though, cebu is obviously not disaster ready.
while the government ponder this, citizens should be more vigilant and ready when disaster strikes.
if there’s one thing though that the filipinos are known for, we generally rise up to the challenge.
that alone is a comforting thought 🙂
my take 