A CANADIAN & THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE TRAUMA

This story is a mix of times and places, it starts in Peru in the late 70’s and ends in San Fransisco in the fall of 1984. It wasn’t until I started to think of my time in San Fransisco, that this vidid flashback to my past became clear. It is a mix of experiences and describes something that, being a Canadian from the prairies, had no base in my psyche. It all started in the Andes mountains of southern Peru, in the late 70’s, at about 12,000 feet elevation. And ends in San Fran 5 years later with the solid cementing of yet another instance in my life. It broadened my range of how the world works, and what other societies deal with.

Let’s go back to 1979 in Huambo, Peru. Where Deysi and I, freshly married, had moved into a married quarters house in our camp. A way up in the mountains. There was just the two of us then and we were getting to know each other. We were still trying to figure out who was, ultimately, going to rise as the boss of this family. At this point I still held out hopes that it would be me. Anyway, one night we were fast asleep in our home, when all of the sudden the whole house started shaking, the bed was sliding across the floor, the hanging light was bouncing off both sides of the ceiling, and suddenly I was wide awake!

Not having any previous frame of reference, I was immediately in a major panic. My heart was trying to escape from my throat, my bowels were loose, and I felt “fear” like no other in my life. Deysi, jumps out of bed and hollers, “get out of here”! I am in a mindless panic by this time, and I spring, fall, jump, leap from the bed. I tangle myself in the bed clothes and spill out onto the floor. “get out, get out” she is saying. I stumble, fall, trip and nose dive for the door. Ahhh, I’m outside.

Now she’s yelling at me, “get back in there and get your clothes on”,” are you crazy, GET Dressed”. Back inside I go , the room is shaking, my heart rate is about 250/minute, I am blind with fright. I manage to find something to cover me with and again fall outside. I’m lying there and she says “well that was an earthquake”! I’m incoherent and cannot think of anything. She calms me down and I guess at that point, lying there in a quivering pile of flesh, it becomes clear to me, who will be leading this family.

Fast forward now, 5 years later in San Fransisco. I am now working on about the 20th floor of our office building in downtown San Fransisco. The previous high I had ever been in a building might have been three or four floors. The views were magnificent! I think “yes you have arrived, you now are truly on top of the world”. Come one morning, when I’m minding my own business and at peace with the world and everyone around me, there is a loud BANG, like an explosion and everything starts swaying. You have never felt anything like that until the floor under you is making 10 foot arcs in two directions. My desk takes off for the other side of the floor. People are immediately up and heading for, I don’t know where.

I leap up and follow the herd. Now you realize, you are 20 floors or 200 feet off the ground, where are you going to go? Call up an elevator? Nope, there are 19 floors below you filled with people thinking of escape by the elevator. Quick down the stairs! Same thing, I pile into the stairwell and as far as I can see its full all of the way down. The building is rocking and rolling, I’m about to have a serious bowel movement and I’m thinking, even if there was room, what are my chances of running down 20 floors to freedom (without having a jammer)? With this thought I sit and await my doom. In a few seconds (or to me, hours) everything stops moving and I hear people say “that was not so bad, a small temblor, it could have been worse”.

I now am experienced in earthquakes. I have felt many over the years, but let me say this, you never get used to an earthquake. Both instances were life changing, but I do think, being in a high-rise with no possible escape is the one, most frightening. No matter how important you might think you are, you are no match for Mother Nature and even the smallest of quakes. At this point you realize that you are no more than a “worm” to the forces of nature.