Earthquake: Devastating Natural Disaster

Earthquakes are one of the most devastating natural disasters on the planet. They have killed countless amounts of people and are hard to tell when coming. In this essay I will being talking about the experiences and how it feels to be in an Earthquake.

        The most devastating earthquake on record happened in 2004. This earthquake was a 9.1 magnitude on the richter scale and created a Tsunami that put together killed about 230,000 people. This earthquake had several survivors who shared their experiences with the internet, these are just a few of them.

        There was a young individual named Louis Cryer who was 18 at the time and survived this incredible natural disaster. He talks about living in a hotel with multiple stories where him and his mom were living on the second floor when the earthquake hit. He said that the tsunami hit so fast that they had know time to get out there hotel. The water was destroying walls and buildings with its sheer force. Louis and his mom tried to help people get to high ground. He even said that he had to carry an older person who they thought broke her back to highground. They ended up going to a temple that was structurally sound and above the huge waves. Louis said that the only plus from this experience was that it brought people together and it did not matter if you were a certain religion or not everyone was checking on each other.

        There was another set of people that survived this insane tidal wave. There names were Tom and Arlette who were on holiday. They were having breakfast at the time of the Earthquake and said that the waiters were pointing at the sea. Everyone thought that it was not harmful and went out to take pictures. Tom knew this was not just any wave though and he grabbed his wife's hand and they ran for highground. Tom and Arlette where running for their lives as the wave was not far behind. They had made it to highground but other people were not so lucky. When everything settled they got there truck and loaded wounded people in the back. They did not want to go down to the beach though because they knew it would be scattered with dead corpses. Another gigantic Tsunami hits soon after and most people had made it to safety by then so it was not as devastating as the first time. After the second wave Tom and Arlette stayed on high ground for a few hours before starting their long journey home.

        The final experience was kay and her partner. They were snorkeling when the earthquake hit. They were told to come back on the boat when the Tai people noticed the water was being displaced. If they did not get on the boat they would have been swept away and most likely killed. They had no idea how devastating the Tsunami was until they got a call from the shore that told them that. If Kay and her fiance did not go snorkeling that day or overslept, they could have been part of the have of the people who were killed in there hotel. The boat they were on had saved their lives and it was also a safe place to sleep over night because that was safer than going on the mainland. They stayed on the boat until the next morning when they were picked up by a military airplane and taken to safety. It was not until that morning when she realized how devastating the earthquake was with a soup of debris all over.

        There was another website that had the story of Christine Lang. She was out with her brothers significant other when the giant wave hit. She remembers people running for their lives away from the ocean as she heard this terrible noise. She thought there island was under attack. When she looked at the ocean there was a huge black wall of water. While Lang was running she was swept off her feet and got caught in the wave. She said it felt like she was inside a giant washing machine with the islands debris. She thought for sure that she was dead, but than Lang started getting very angry and did not want to die so she swam up as fast as she could. After that Lang blacks out and wakes up under water. She thought that the top was about 40 meters above her because of the pressure on her ears. When she came up at the top there was a floating door that she could float on. This was the first time she was able to see how badly the earthquake affected her area. After that she was pulled up onto a roof of a building that was still intact. Lang was able to see everything from up there and said  It honestly felt like the end of the world. Lang learned from this experience to never to take life for granted because you never know when it can just be washed away.

        As you can see Earthquakes are one of the most devastating natural disasters on the planet. These stories of people surviving the 2004 Earthquake/Tsunami were all true. Always be careful about earthquakes because you never know when they could be big or small, or even create a giant Tsunami. This was how earthquakes feel by Kyler Andersen.

Cite this page