September 3rd/4th 2010
All peaceful in the Webber household... Lara asleep, Sam and I had hopped into bed and nodded off into blissful sleepyland...
...4.30am... awaken from a deep sleep to our bed shaking... My thoughts...'Sam stop moving around for god sake I need to sleep!'... 'Sam are you having a seizure!?!?'... 'F&*k! Sam whats happening?!??!'...
We both sit upright and realise this ain't no seizure! It is in fact a massive earthquake! We stumble outta bed as fast as we can, I yell to Sam, "Grab Lara!!" He is already halfway across her room. I grab the duvet off the bed and crawl/walk/stumble to the bedroom door where I huddle in the doorway waiting for Sam to arrive safely with Lara. I hear a "F$%k, stumble, OUCH" I scream out "Are you ok" Sam appears in the doorway with Lara, safely bundled in his arms but sporting a stubbed toe and sore leg from trying to wade through all the toys and things that were rattling off the walls and shelves.
We sat together under the door frame while the house continued to rattle, roll, crack and groan. The noise was horrendous! My immediate thoughts were 'This is MASSIVE, are we going to survive this?' I was just waiting for the house to crumble down around us. It was the most scariest moment of my life! As we waited for the quake to stop Lara sat in my arms smiling away seemingly unaware as to what was happening around her. She even fell asleep by the time the shaking had stopped.
Just after 4.30am... Power is off, sirens and alarms are going off throughout the neighbourhood, we stay in the door frame as we know there will be aftershocks! And YES there certainly were! Each one scaring the living daylights outta us! Txts come through from family, they are all ok. PHEW!
Daylight started to emerge and we ventured into the kitchen and lounge area, WHAT A MESS! cupboards and drawers flung open, pantry contents smashed onto the ground, glassware smashed, pictures and photos either crooked or flung from their hooks.
A knock at the door... our neighbours checking that we were OK. They told us that the roads were a mess and there is no water or power.
We turned the radio on and hear about the damage and how big the earthquake was... 7.1 on the Richter Scale... whole buildings collapsed...
Lara hungry for her morning bottle by now... no power to heat! Luckily we have gas so we boil up a pot of water and submerge the bottle. Not the most efficient or effective but it does the trick. Just like the 'Good old days' huh :)
With Lara close by we sit listening to the radio for updates, it is cold, no power for heating! Lara wears her winter woolies as she plays in the exersaucer, still unaware of what has happened and too little to really react to the numerous aftershocks.
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