Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Tremors

I was talking to my manager today and suddenly I felt my chair was shaking. My head moving sideways and I felt I was about to faint.

My initial thought was, "Oh no! It's another dizzy spell. It seems to have gotten worse since my last one and I really have to see the doctor soon."

I was way off. It was actually the Indonesian earthquake was felt all the way here in Singapore, 400 kilometers away. The time was 11.49 a.m.

Immediately I went online to check for news. No updates. Probably not so soon, even though we are leaving in the age of almost instantaneous information.

As it was almost time for lunch, my colleagues and I, in fact almost the whole company, came out of the building. We saw all the other office lobbies nearby were crowded with people too. Everyone has instinctively left their respective buildings, even though the tremor lasted only about 20 seconds.

There was a sense of excitement and worry. The phone lines were jammed and some of my colleagues couldn't even send out SMSes to their family and friends.

Apparently, many areas in Singapore felt the vibrations too. According to news reports, Kuala Lumpuer felt it too.

But when I called home at 2 p.m., my mom said she didn't feel a thing.

Not long after I put down the phone, another tremor was felt. It was the aftershock of the earthquake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. Nearer to the epicenter in Padang, Indonesia, there were many smaller aftershocks after the main one.

This second tremor which I felt seemed stronger than the first one, but was shorter. Probably about 10 seconds.

The thing is, I felt dizzy for the rest of the day, even though there were no other tremors. The feeling is hard to describe; it's like a combination of headache with a slight pain, with some daze and dizziness included. It's also like those feeling when you had a lack of sleep for days ...

I felt better after I had a swim after work. But as I type this, the feeling seems to have return.

I think it's best I go to bed now.

9 comments:

JamesW850i said...

OMG... You had the same side-effect as Lloyd. Derek ah, take good care of yourself k?

Hopefully you will feel better after reading my comment.

Ganymede said...

You poor thing. Hope you're feeling better now. You've got a bigger challenge to face in a few days time. Me~~~

:P

Will said...

Get some rest. Hope you feel better.

Jon said...

Good to know you are alright. Do get good rest.

Derek said...

james: Thanks James dear. You are such a sweetie!


defiant: Think I can't handle you meh? ;P


will: Thanks for the concern. And so sorry for not replying your email yet!


jon: Thanks, Jon. I am alright.

Rad said...

I know exactly what you mean. For the rest of the day after the 2nd tremor, I felt dizzy too, yet it's not because of more tremors.

So you also didn't get to leave early, too? The ppl at my workplace didn't even evacuate on the first tremor. Unbelievable hard-working, or like me, didn't have the willingness to run down 16th floor.

Just kidding. We're thinking of doing it, when the first tremor stopped. So there's no point. And majority of the ppl didn't feel the 2nd tremor, so I thought it was just my imagination. Only when my friend IM me, then I knew it was real. Slow, aren't I *chagrined* ?

Espion said...

That dizziness is seasickness. Physiologically they are the same.

And I suppose this was your first experience of an earthquake.

Your subsequent dizziness is however a different thing. More psychological than physiological, ie maybe you are afraid. :-)

My first experience was in California, and there you can feel and see the columns in the building swayed. Everyone just stopped talking, and after 10 secs, we carried on as if nothing happened. Later the news reported a quake about 6 on the Richter scale out in the Pacific. A normal day in California.

Andy Kuramoto said...

Rest well, eat healthy, stress less. You need to take care of yourself more okay? :) Otherwise you'll end up like me and looking older than your supposed to. T.T

As for earthquakes, the first time and last time I ever encountered one, I was barely even one year old. It's funny because I can't recall that it ever happened. In other words, I could have died without knowing. Haha!

Anyhow, rest up buddy. I hope you don't mind if I link to your blog? ^^;;

Derek said...

rad: OK, so now I know two other people who felt dizzy too after the tremors.

Maybe you're on the a lower floor, which was why you didn't feel the much of the tremors.


espion: I was definitely not afraid. Though I doubt it was more psychological than physiological.

My lack of sleep sure didn't help ;P


andy: Hmmm, sure or not you look older than you are? Can't say, have to send me a pic to judge LOL

Thanks for the concern, I am OK now.

And yeah, you're more than welcome to link to my blog! I will add yours soon.