1-4-08 EARTHQUAKE

Yes you read that CORRECTLY! We experienced our first (and hopefully LAST) earthquake this evening. Mom, Drew and I were sitting on the couch making fun of the guy on 1 vs 100 who was about to win $1,000,000 and enjoying our spaghetti when it happened. You never think about earthquakes if you are from Ohio...but it was exactly what I thought it would be like. The building started to sway and shake and it felt like the floor was rolling and rolling and rolling more. The windows rattled, our drinks and plates shook and made noise. Mom and I were PANICKING but trying to remain calm for Drew. I kept saying "the wind is really blowing tonight." He was scared with eye very, very wide and said "it's not the wind MAMA!" Emma was asleep in her crib and never knew it happened.

I felt scared, sick and numb. I kept thinking...this has to stop soon or the hotel is going to start cracking. I guess it is all the TV shows or news reports I have seen where things just start to crumble. I kept thinking how long can this go before something bad happens. It was horrible.

Here are the official details:



Earthquake Details
Magnitude 5.6
Date-Time Saturday, January 05, 2008 at 01:56:50 UTC
Friday, January 04, 2008 at 07:56:50 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 14.191°N, 91.407°W
Depth 108.7 km (67.5 miles)
Region GUATEMALA
Distances 70 km (40 miles) S of Quezaltenango, Guatemala
105 km (65 miles) WSW of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala
120 km (75 miles) SE of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico
1005 km (620 miles) ESE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 6.2 km (3.9 miles); depth +/- 12.5 km (7.8 miles)
Parameters Nst=161, Nph=161, Dmin=446.2 km, Rmss=1.05 sec, Gp= 94°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2008lvad

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

We are all fine here in the city. The front desk called us to tell us our internet was back on...Mom asked what just happened and she calmly said "It was an earthquake...no need to be concerned." Easy for someone to say that had exerienced them before. We were VERY VERY CONCERNED.

Drew was scared but quickly fell asleep on the couch after it was over. I will keep you posted. We are hoping the people closer to the quake are alright. Some people live in very primative housing. I am sure there will be more news later this evening or in the morning.

I am going to try to go to bed...that was too much excitement for me. We have 11 more days until we are home....and they cannot pass quickly enough for us!