The day the earth shook

Tomorrow, October 15, marks the third year anniversary of the earthquake that shook mostly Bohol province but also rattled Cebu and nearby provinces; and much as I hate to recall it, the memory of that day won’t go away quickly for me, maybe not at all.

The day started innocently enough; the skies were gloomy dark with the likely prospect of rainfall and I was in bed, lazily listening to dyAB station manager Leo Lastimosa interviewing a lady about some project they were launching in Cebu City.

Then all of a sudden, I heard Leo speak out, quite agitated: “Sus, unsa man na (Jesus, what’s that?)”; or words to that effect, then he went off the air and the power went off in the room.

An eerie silence ensued — I remembered that it just went quiet, like someone-sucked-the-air-out-of-the-room quiet — followed all of a sudden by the awful sound of the ground rumbling and then shaking violently to and fro, up and down.

I was still in bed at the time and when the earth shook, its seismic vibrations woke me out of my stupor and fear gripped me like a vise, like an anaconda that seized its prey and wouldn’t let go.

The rumbling continued for about 30 seconds but for me it seemed like an eternity. Just as sudden as it occurred, the ground stopped shaking. It was quiet again, before the ground shook violently one more time and then it went still.

I don’t remember what time the power went back on, I guess it was an hour later because I was still recovering from the fear of the earth moving under myself, under my feet and it was terrifying.

It’s not like it was the first time I experienced an earthquake. The earliest I had was in 1990 while in class in Cagayan de Oro City and I remember the teacher caught unaware and then grabbing the desk, like the floor was taken under his feet as the building shook.

The Oct. 15 quake mostly damaged some towns in Bohol province but aside from some Church structures, it frayed the nerves of a lot of Cebu City and Metro Cebu residents, including employees in Cebu Daily News.

There were cracks in the building and an inspector was called the following day to determine if the building was still structurally sound, which he confirmed. What wasn’t was the psychological and emotional state of the employees, not a few of whom wondered if they should consider heading home.

I headed to the office early that day and saw only worried-looking employees in the newsroom with a lot in the administration taking the day off.

I then left the office to get some of my personal items at the house I stayed in and on the taxi ride back, I heard broadcaster Bobby Nalzaro talk to a reporter about the quake when one of several aftershocks that occurred on that day broke out, causing Nalzaro to mutter, “Sus, naa na sad (Jesus, there’s another one).”

I debated whether going back to work or staying where I was since, like the others, my nerves were on edge. During a story conference, then editor-in-chief Eileen Mangubat talked calmly about how one should handle oneself when caught in an earthquake and in between, the aftershocks would rattle everyone.

I was unable to contact loved ones back in Cagayan de Oro during the time since the lines were affected by the quake but again, like a lot of Cebu residents, I took to Facebook to unload on what I felt that day and thankfully, there were posts and messages of support.

The next day, the nerves were still touchy and the aftershocks still occurred but the assurance by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) that the possibility of another 7 point earthquake or something stronger than that is remote was enough to convince me to soldier on, regardless of the rumblings.

To this day, the memory of the Oct. 15 quake still reminds of the fragility of life and the unpredictability of nature. We can only pray and hope for the best.