I had just finished saying, "We should make it a tradition at family weddings to eat as many carrots as possible," when noise filled my dream and I woke to hear roaring and rumbling and felt the bed rolling. I wondered why on earth DH was moving the bed at 2:30 in the morning until he grasped my hand and I realised we were experiencing an earthquake ... one that seemed to go on and on and on.
When it had finally ceased, we determined that the "other noise" (that is, not the rumbling of the 'quake itself) was the scaffolding in our soon-to-be master bedroom (once the renovations are complete) rocking back and forth.
DH checked the location of the earthquake on his phone, and we assured ourselves that our nearest and dearest were most likely okay despite the then reported magnitude of 7.4 (it has since been downsized to 7.1), and settled back to sleep. A family message at a more social hour (that is, after 6:00am) revealed that some of those closer to the epicentre didn't even feel it. How could they not?
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| Image from GeoNet Quakes |
Since then, there have been many aftershocks, mostly unfelt by us, and tsunami warnings and evacuations (which makes gathering at safe places interesting given most of the country is at COVID-19 Level 2 and has to keep a metre distance and crowds of less than 100). Our area was not at risk, so we went happily off to work, only to a few hours later, go into partial lockdown because there was a gas leak a block away necessitating three fire trucks and several police officers. Considering it is a gorgeous day, no one particularly wanted to be confined inside, but we had little choice. I will admit, though, that a gas leak seems rather mundane after a bomb threat and multiple stabbings (two reasons for lockdown or evacuation in the past), but, happily, it was resolved somewhat quickly and we could all return to normal once again.
Thus far, it's been an interesting day. However, I'm still not sure about those carrots!
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