As you all know, I love to write about fun things like travel, fashion, weddings, and so on. But I also sometimes like to share with you from my soul. Today I want to share a personal story with you. A true story that happened to me, and something that I feel called to share right now. This is my firsthand story of the 2008 China earthquake...
I had only been living in China for about four months, when the 2008 China earthquake happened on May 12. I was living in Xi'an, a city about 460 miles from Chengdu, which was the epicenter of the quake. I had decided that I wanted to go out for a walk, maybe stop at some of the adorable roadside stores, and do some shopping. My first stop was a little underwear store, with small cardboard signs, exclaiming in Chinese characters all about their sales, hanging from wires from the ceiling, and a waist high bin in the middle of the store, holding hundreds of pairs of half priced underwear. It was in this bin, that I was digging, hoping to find a pair of cute, cheap underwear, that would actually fit me, when it happened. I suddenly felt very dizzy, so I made a mental note that I needed to drink more water. I then glanced up, and saw the signs on the ceiling swaying back and forth as if some strong breeze had swept quickly through the store. Suddenly, the giant metal bin in front of me was being tossed from side to side. This was about the time when me, the cashier, and the three or four other girls in the store, realized that the ground beneath us was moving. We ran outside onto the street. I looked around, and saw, in all directions, hundreds of people, flooding out of buildings, like a tsunami wave out into the street.
Thinking back, the large shocks couldn't have lasted more than a minute or two, but as I was clinging to a complete stranger (one of the random girls from the underwear store!), the once solid ground, throwing me violently down, never letting me stand fully to my feet before tossing me to the other side, I had no realization of time, or any other person, place, event, or thought, besides the girl who was clinging to me and I to her, and the thought, "I am going to die." The entire time of the quake, there was a dead, eerie silence. You could hear the ground moving, and the buildings shifting, but there were none of the comforting sounds of normal life. No car engines, beeping horns, laughing children, no birds in the sky. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. When the ground stood still once again, there was a moment of complete stillness, quiet, and calm, then it was as if the entire city suddenly at the same time, snapped out of some daze, and started rushing around. I slowly made my way back to my apartment, scared and confused, and trying to comprehend what had just happened. It was mass chaos; all cell services were jammed, you couldn't reach anyone on your phone. Once I reached my apartment, I saw that the entire sidewalk in front of it was full of people. I finally found my friends, and my roommate. No one was allowed back in the building until it was cleared. I later learned that my building had earned the nickname "dofu lou" (tofu building), for it was shifting to and fro like a piece of jiggly tofu during the earthquake.
That night most of the city slept outside on the ground, for being inside a tall building with aftershocks happening, was not the safest thing you could do (especially in the dofu lou!).
Luckily we had a friend that lived in a nice apartment complex, that had grass we could sleep on. I did walk around the city though, and take pictures of the local park, of all the people sleeping on the ground.
Luckily we had a friend that lived in a nice apartment complex, that had grass we could sleep on. I did walk around the city though, and take pictures of the local park, of all the people sleeping on the ground.
This was us the morning after. Yes that's me in the glasses.
I later found out that the earthquake that hit had a magnitude of 7.9, killing about 70,000 people, and leaving over 18,000 missing. It was the 3rd most deadly earthquake in China since 1990. It was a tragedy, through and through.
The above picture is in the days following the earthquake, people donating money to the victims.
It has been eight years, and I have not forgotten, nor will I ever.
The above picture is in the days following the earthquake, people donating money to the victims.
It has been eight years, and I have not forgotten, nor will I ever.
Peace Love and Earthquake
Jess <3
