Never a dull day in Chennai!
You've probably heard that there was an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia yesterday afternoon. It was an 8.6 on the scale, which puts it in the top ten range of worst earthquakes recorded, and we felt it here in Chennai. People were asking me how close we are to the epicenter, so I found this map to show that.
Those of you who have been through earthquakes know what a strange sensation it is. It took my mind a moment to understand that the supposedly solid earth was moving, so for the first few seconds I was thinking muscle spasms? dizzy spell? gas explosion? house about to collapse? and that sort of thing. Once I realized that it was an earthquake, the first thing that came to mind had little to do with earth and everything to do with water: tsunami.
Chennai takes the tsunami threat very seriously, as memories of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami are fresh. An estimated 18,000 Indians died in that disaster, most of them in our state of Tamil Nadu. Earthquakes in the Indian Ocean (especially near Indonesia) aren't uncommon, but the 2004 tsunami took everyone by surprise. It was mind-bogglingly huge, and tsunamis in this region are rare enough that there wasn't a warning system in place.
No one wants a repeat of that. Immediately after yesterday's earthquake, police were down on Chennai's beaches with megaphones asking everyone to leave, and fishing villages were evacuated. Our family got text messages, e-mails and a phone call from the Consulate warning us to stay away from the coast and to start conserving water, food and gas.
The next three hours were pretty tense. Our house is about 3 km from the beach and is considered to be in a safe zone, so I wasn't worried about our immediate safety. The worry was getting Johnny home from school and John from the Consulate in the time before a possible tsunami would hit. The school is in a safe zone, but you have to cross lower-lying areas to get there from here, so I didn't want him stranded there while the rest of us were at home.
The school canceled after-school activities and kept kids in their classrooms until they were released by a parent, though Johnny and the other Consulate kids were brought home on the regular Consulate bus. (We're the only ones who have busing.) Any families who live along the ECR (East Coast Road that runs along the beach) were encouraged to stay and use the school as a safe haven. Many families did stay at the school until the warnings were lifted later in the evening.
With everyone trying to leave work or school and get into a safe zone, traffic was unreal. I did a lot of pacing, let me tell you. It kept getting later and later, and Johnny wasn't home yet. The bus monitor sent us texts to let us know that the kids were safe and that they were just held up in traffic, but I didn't really relax until Johnny walked through the door full of stories about all the excitement.
Consulate officers were released early, so John got home before 5, too. (That was about the time a tsunami would have reached us.) Once everyone was safe at home it was just a matter of waiting things out.
Warnings were eased later in the evening, though we were told to remain cautious. No tsunami this time. The Hindu has a nice little article about why this quake didn't cause a tsunami, even though its location and magnitude were so similar to those of the 2004 earthquake.
As I say, never a dull day.
You've probably heard that there was an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia yesterday afternoon. It was an 8.6 on the scale, which puts it in the top ten range of worst earthquakes recorded, and we felt it here in Chennai. People were asking me how close we are to the epicenter, so I found this map to show that.
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| shamelessly stolen from India Today |
Chennai takes the tsunami threat very seriously, as memories of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami are fresh. An estimated 18,000 Indians died in that disaster, most of them in our state of Tamil Nadu. Earthquakes in the Indian Ocean (especially near Indonesia) aren't uncommon, but the 2004 tsunami took everyone by surprise. It was mind-bogglingly huge, and tsunamis in this region are rare enough that there wasn't a warning system in place.
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| Chennai's Marina Beach after the 2004 tsunami/photo by AFP |
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| Remains of one of Chennai's many fishing villages after the 2004 tsunami/photo by AP |
No one wants a repeat of that. Immediately after yesterday's earthquake, police were down on Chennai's beaches with megaphones asking everyone to leave, and fishing villages were evacuated. Our family got text messages, e-mails and a phone call from the Consulate warning us to stay away from the coast and to start conserving water, food and gas.
The next three hours were pretty tense. Our house is about 3 km from the beach and is considered to be in a safe zone, so I wasn't worried about our immediate safety. The worry was getting Johnny home from school and John from the Consulate in the time before a possible tsunami would hit. The school is in a safe zone, but you have to cross lower-lying areas to get there from here, so I didn't want him stranded there while the rest of us were at home.
The school canceled after-school activities and kept kids in their classrooms until they were released by a parent, though Johnny and the other Consulate kids were brought home on the regular Consulate bus. (We're the only ones who have busing.) Any families who live along the ECR (East Coast Road that runs along the beach) were encouraged to stay and use the school as a safe haven. Many families did stay at the school until the warnings were lifted later in the evening.
With everyone trying to leave work or school and get into a safe zone, traffic was unreal. I did a lot of pacing, let me tell you. It kept getting later and later, and Johnny wasn't home yet. The bus monitor sent us texts to let us know that the kids were safe and that they were just held up in traffic, but I didn't really relax until Johnny walked through the door full of stories about all the excitement.
Consulate officers were released early, so John got home before 5, too. (That was about the time a tsunami would have reached us.) Once everyone was safe at home it was just a matter of waiting things out.
Warnings were eased later in the evening, though we were told to remain cautious. No tsunami this time. The Hindu has a nice little article about why this quake didn't cause a tsunami, even though its location and magnitude were so similar to those of the 2004 earthquake.
As I say, never a dull day.
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