Earthquake Memories

In our country, the Philippines, we encounter frequent natural calamities caused by typhoons, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Our experience when the earthquake of July 16, 1990, with an intensity of 7.6 struck is really unforgettable. The date is memorable because it is our kids' school anniversary and they had the afternoon off. It was in the morning that celebration was held that included games and contests. Towards noon, a question and answer contest was held for students where I commented on the result of an answer. The question was, "What is used to measure the intensity of an earthquake?" The correct answer was the Richter scale. I commented that the Richter is a scale but what truly measures and detects it is a seismograph. Without that instrument, the Richter scale has nothing to measure. It sort of served as a premonition to me.

The earthquake struck around 3 or 4 o'clock that afternoon. My wife and sister, along with our household help, were out doing some groceries. The kids and I were watching TV in the living room. They, three of them, my eldest was seven and only daughter, was youngest at three years of age. Before that, there was unusual activity of cockroaches scampering all over the house. Dogs in our neighborhood were uneasy and doing inexplicable howling. The fighting roosters I was caring for were likewise uneasy in their cages. Fluttering and cackling noisily as if wanting to get out of their cages! All of that made me think it was a simply stupid day for all of these to be happening.

A minute or maybe a couple of minutes before it happened, everything was calm and quiet. First was the TV that went off. Then, the ground started to shake sideways becoming stronger every fraction of a second! We were staying in a rented house on the lower floor, made mostly of lumber. I looked up the ceiling because it could come down on us. In an instant, I gathered all my kids under me and sprawled over them. If anything falls, I would be able to cushion it off. The nightmare was when the sideways shake became an up and down pounding of the ground! There was terrible noise and I could not say if it was the ground or the house making it. If my time awareness recollection is correct, I know the tremor lasted for a minute or more. Also, I would have very little to remember if it was not that long.

When the shaking stopped, I took all my children to the car and drove out from our garage into the open. It was from there where we saw people getting onto the streets. A neighbor, who only one leg and in crutches was carrying on his back a refrigerator! That quake really pumped an overload of adrenalin in our system! What made things become more difficult was when it started to rain heavily! We let the children in our car I think with a couple of newly born babies. No one dared go back in their houses even just to get an umbrella. The tremor was so strong that even an aftershock could be fearsome. It seemed like the end of the world! No communication was available! I was trying to get radio stations over my car stereo but there was none! It dawned upon me that what struck could have been less! Why was there no live radio station even for hundreds of kilometers away?

Four houses away, uphill, was where my parents and sisters stayed. We were glad to see the house to be in good shape. I could not leave my kids behind or take them with me to check on them. Looking around again, broken water pipes had some water flowing on the streets. Many were crying with some on their knees praying because it looked like the world was to end. More got scared when lower intensity aftershocks came. There were only a few vehicles that would come by. I always looked down street expecting my wife, sister and household help to be arriving anytime. Praying within that nothing happened to them while doing groceries. I did not want to imagine how it was at the grocery during that time. Not long though, I saw them walking up from the street. They narrated what they saw and happened at the downtown area. They had to walk home as public transport stopped. Only a few cabs were willing to take passengers as most wanted to check on their own homes and family.

It started to get dark in the evening. Most still didn't want to go inside their homes to get food or anything. Many were soaked under the rain. There were only a few of us men who were foolish enough to go in and out of our houses for some things we need. Things around our house were strewn all over. Even locked drawers were thrown out of their casing. Miraculously, there were just a few plates and glasses that were broken. Our gas range and kitchen was the most proximate from where we were huddled on the street, so it was there where we cooked some instant noodles, canned goods and rice. Our neighbors' water tank storage stood their ground, only a couple, and one was ours, which was toppled down to its side. That meant we had source of potable water in the next few days.

Some resourceful neighbors made makeshift tents on the street with large plastic bags and rice sacks. Most of them wanted to just stay it out in the open and sleep there. What was astonishing is, I don't recall organizing ourselves. It seemed all automatic and everyone was willing to do something for someone. There were around 50 or more people in the open area. Some others had themselves also gathered spaced about a hundred feet away from each. I was the only guy who had a pistol tucked on my waist to deter anything untoward and as protection at that time. Hard times can get some people to do crimes or be desperate. That night, I was the only one who tried to sleep inside the house. I felt the obligation to patrol our vicinity while the others were asleep. The following morning, I was able to go up to my parents and sisters place, glad to find that they are all safe. That was how it was for about three days and nights until everyone felt safe to get back inside their houses. We accommodated two families in our home because the apartments they rented were wrecked. They stayed with us for a few days until they were able to get their things together and find a place to rent. All we could offer for them sleep on was our living room and part of the dining room.

On the fourth day, if my memory serves me right, we had to drive to town for some necessities. It's actually less than a kilometer drive from our place to the city center. Almost every few feet of the road that we pass were very depressing sights. There were a few houses that were damaged and owners settled for makeshift tents beside them. We encountered some fire trucks but they were driving around to supply water to those in need. There were still very few vehicles moving around, maybe most were just running errands.

Many hotels and condominiums did not withstand the shaker. One was a friend's medium sized hotel that collapsed on its ground onto the parking area that crushed two of his cars. Several more small and medium sized buildings gave way. Hard to believe was the only 5-Star hotel that collapsed on its side like a deck of cards! That is where many perished and also a couple of survivors buried for days if not more than a week. A friend perished there when he went back to his office to get something. Some other people I knew personally perished there.

The city's Burnham Park, named after its American designer, looked like a refugee camp. Tents covered all open spaces. Some good natured food establishments had a door or two open, to ration hot soup and ration-sell some of their products. As all roads leading to the city were closed with huge landslides it was expected that food supply will come in short. Buying gasoline was controlled by local officials. All types of vehicles were allowed only to buy 10 liters each per week. Anyway that was good because no one could travel outside of the city. People were lined up in many places even in banks that were open. Electricity was still out so it was difficult to do business for most. It really took a long time before electricity was put back. There were extensive damages to the system and equipments. Same is true with water supply. Schools opened up only after two or three months, I think. At that time, many businesses closed due to losses or had difficulty recouping losses. It was a sad chapter in the history of our city, Baguio City, because not only thousands of lives were lost but also the livelihood of many more that did not survive it.