Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Earthquake this morning?

Did anyone feel the earthquake this morning in Egypt?

Husband woke me up about 6:30am. the shaking bed had woken him up. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming it all, so he woke me up.

The bed was indeed shaking more than the slight vibrations we feel each time the local train passes by (every 15 minutes) and then he pointed to the suspended light fixture which was oscillating (but not too wildly)

I realised there were some vibrations, but didn't think it was serious enough to panic. So I rolled over and went back to sleep (anyone who knows me, knows I am not a 6:30am person unless I have stayed up until then) I think he was a bit miffed but I had my reasons.

We are on the top floor in our building and I would think staying in, is safer than trying to run out. Logic being it may be easier to survive falling down (a couple of storeys) than having heavy stuff fall on top of you (if you even manage to reach street level in the crowded streets of Mohandaseen)

Woke up later (a couple of hours later) to hear that there had been an underwater earthquake in Greece

The reports say the earthquake struck at 11:34GMT which would logically be 2:00am in Egypt right now (because of DST), but we felt it at 6:30am.

Now that I am wide awake, I was just wondering if the buildings in Egypt are earthquake proof. and what can I do to be prepared in future.

Seriously considering putting all our important papers into one small suitcase and having it handy in case of an emergency. So if the need arises, I can rush out with the suitcase, my laptop and the cat.

Any other ideas?

4 comments:

Egyptmapper said...

Hi Kim,
no chance, if there is a real earthquake in Cairo!!!
Best you move in a one floor building with a flexible roof. :-/

Interesting webpage for that:
http://earthquake.googlemashups.com/
But forecast isn't included ;-)

Have a nice time - free of ground motions
Egyptmapper

vagabondblogger said...

Well, for one I have a portable hard drive with my computer (and loads of photos) backed up. It's the size of a wallet. Also, just a basic emergency kit, which you can find on numerous emergency related websites (water, flashlights, etc.)

We lived in Alaska for three years, and they have constant earthquakes. We were told to always either exit the building, (when possible) or stand inside a doorway (my guess is that it provides extra strength structurally). I was never able to escape (the house, built to earthquake standards). I have often wondered how is it possible to run from a building that is either quivering viciously, or going back and forth as if on a ship in the storm? And at the time, I had two small children and a dog. It's perplexing.

BTW, if I felt the earthquake, I may not have noticed. I'm on the ground floor, and we heard it was felt more on the floors above.

Kim said...

hmmm,

good tips.

thanks guys

Anonymous said...

hi! i just found your page and i find it very interesting. i felt the

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