Earthquake in Christchurch

As usual for this Ramadhan I will wake up my family at 4.30 am...time for sahur. Suboh will be about 5.30 am...but last Saturday's (4th September 2010) 24th Ramadhan Sahur will be the one remembered most. Mainly because on that day around 4.35am we experienced our first earthquake!(reported at 7.1 scale)

What I remembered upon getting up was feeling dizzy (like a migraine coming),hearing a huge sound like a huge `gggr' up on the roof, the house rocking forward and backwards,and a feeling of panic as my husband who was on the other side of the bed stumbled towards me and our sons. Luckily my son Ilham had come to our room sometime in the night and all of us were together.As we huddled at the side of the bed all I could mutter was `Laillahaillalah' over and over again, feeling scared while our house seemed to rock back and forth. All thoughts about running to the door and going to an open space (as what the earthquake drill at uni) went out of my head! I guess that is what is called panicking!

The tremor lasted about 1-2 minutes.After that all the lights went out. We hurried towards the door..but I had to grab a tudung/headscarf first...in the dark...my husband asked the kids to get in the car...When it seemed safe we got back into the house and managed to eat some kurma and a banana for sahur (Alhamdulillah) under our dining table! (as Ilham said thats what his teacher had told them if there was earthquake). While we were under the table another slight and small tremor (reported at 5.2scale). Aftershocks (slight tremors ~scales of 3-4) continued the whole day. Every tremor made me worried as some of our friends said another one would occur...

Around 8 am we decided to get some petrol for our car..just in case.. and along the way stopped at some of our friends who had called us..luckily the phone lines were working although electricity and water supply were out till 12 in the afternoon Physically all of us and our friends are alright Alhamdulillah but emotionally and mentally....some of my friends (esp ladies) were distraught and at a friends place I could see they were shocked..some were almost in tears but we just consoled each other and know that this is dugaan from Allah for us to sabar dan lebih bertakwa kepadaNya in both good and trying times...Later we found out a chimney had fallen off a friend's house, a few had broken plates from the cupboards and misc mess in the house...almost anyone I knew couldnt get a good night sleep as the weather forecasted strong winds..I found out some families stayed together for the night...

The government here has declared Christchurch in a state of emergency, Uni is closed till next Monday, schools are closed till Wednesday at least and everyone is asked to stay at home and be aware. Ya Allah, we pray for your kindness and hope we will be safe from any more disasters...we can only ask for your Mercy....