Surviving Earthquakes in Albania
It was just an ordinary night in Albania. We were all asleep soundly. All of a sudden, we were awakened to our whole building shaking. It was probably only seconds but it felt like an eternity. It was enough time for me to run into the next room and put my arms around my children, thinking that by somehow doing that, I could protect them. Calvin was running around the apartment, frazzled, uncertain about what to do. It wasn't our first earthquake, as we had experienced them in Hawaii and Taiwan as well, but it was the first one with kids, and it felt so strong. It turned out to be a magnitude 6.4 on the Richter Scale. We later found out it was the first earthquake in 30 years in Albania that had been that strong. The Albanians were afraid. Many of them were leaving Tirana to go to the countryside, others were sleeping in their cars or gathering in the ginormous city park far from buildings. There were hundreds of aftershocks! For months afterwards, when lying in bed, I would think there was an earthquake, but there really wasn't. It was the strangest sensation. Just when we thought things were calming down another magnitude 6 earthquake hit! We couldn't believe it. Let's just say, natural disasters make you appreciate your loved ones just a little bit more, and hug them a little bit tighter. We are thankful there was no injuries amongst our family and friends.
Keywords
Frazzled showing the state of exhaustion or confusion.
Ginormous very large.
Aftershocks smaller earthquakes after a big earthquake.