Nisqually Earthquake 10 Years Later

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Nisqually Quake. I had been in earthquakes before but nothing like this. I was 17 years old and still in high school. It was a typical morning history class when you started to hear the sound before a vibration was felt. Being within close proximity to the capital building, my first thought, also voiced by others in the class room was a bomb had gone off. As the vibrations started it still was not registering as an earthquake but my next conscious thought was that Mt. Rainer was erupting. The noise grew louder, and louder, the shaking became unbelievable, as if the earth itself was a salt shaker. The teacher's face became as pale as could be and just froze. Another classmate and myself, both having gone through earthquakes in California and Japan, yelled at everyone to get under their desks. As I looked through the window out into the open field you could see the ground ripple. It was as if someone had dropped a ball into a pond of water and the ripples were spreading out from the center. You could see the tennis courts lift up and then sink back down. The sound was unbearable, you would be shouting at someone six inches from your face and you could not hear a word they said.Tiles were falling glass was breaking, it went on for what seemed a lifetime but was only 45 seconds in total. Just as soon as it started it stopped.

Brian Stern

BrianSternPhotography.com

Subscribe to A Watchful Wanderer