My First Chilean Earthquake

11. To mark the first month anniversary of my arrival, on August 23rd, tectonic plates beneath the country gave me my first earthquake experience in Chile and the second experience in my life (with the first being a California earthquake of 5.5). Everything ended well - don't worry! It simply served as a good learning experience; I know that I will stay calm in uncontrollable situations like earthquakes.

Here's what happened...

Half asleep, I heard intense rattling, of the window I was sitting next to and of unidentifiable sources outside. It was the same noise in New Mexico when the wind hits our metal terrace in the backyard at same time as the sound of heavy rain hitting our skylight. At first, I thought that it was heavy rain, but I quickly realized that it was not raining. Then, my memory is a mix of scenes. At some point, my Chilean sister calls out that this is a 'temblor' (meaning 'tremor'). My Chilean mom ascends the staircase to turn off the estufa. Then my sisters and I descend the staircase and stand huddled together as we observed the plants and windows, the only indications if the earth was still moving. In what seems like minutes later, the indoor plant, patio window, and TV finally stop shaking. 

My family began discussing the Richter scale number of the earthquake ('that was a strong one' and 'that felt like a 6' and 'huh, the earthquake moved up and down instead of the normal side to side'). They were right, which is no surprise considering their extensive expensive all their lives. As it is, we turned on the television immediately after. Turns out, the earthquake lasted 40 seconds, which my family told me is the 'average amount,' unlike the infamous 8.8 earthquake several years ago that apparently lasted several minutes. It was a 6.6 earthquake at its epicenter and, by the time it reached Santiago, it was 6.0. Extensive damage was not reported; the worst was that several regions in Santiago lost electricity for a few hours. By the morning, the earthquake became 'old news' and neither the news nor my family has talked about it since. The earthquake happened, as they usually do here, and Chileans take the event in stride. It was even a conversation starter the day after at school, where students asked each other, 'Where were you when it happened?' but that is about as much excitement and drama that an earthquake presents here. 

Chileans treat earthquakes as a part of their life, which it is. Chile is one of the most seismologically active countries in the world, sitting on a 'subduction zone,' named this way because a huge tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean constantly moves beneath the South American plate. In fact, one earthquake was felt today in the northern Atacama Desert (the most arid in the world) and there have been six measured earthquakes in this past week. This means that a 'temblor' is 'merely' an earthquake below 8.0, considered a 'mere tremor', versus a 'terremoto' which is an earthquake of the real deal that leads them to be more cautious and actually fearful. 

Isabel Allende wrote a remarkable phrase that has stayed with me: that Chileans are formed by the instability of the earth beneath them and that has strengthened their character is a unique way. I would have to agree.