No Earthquakes Here

   

   It's hard to imagine when looking at these tranquil pictures, that a very different scenario was playing out some 546 miles away. Anchorage of course was hit with a pretty strong earthquake several days ago- a 7.0 . My daughter, Autumn called that morning shortly after it happened, around 8;30 in the morning. She was working in a cafe in Palmer when it started and mentioned that things were falling off the walls and something fell down and hit a glass table top which shattered. Everyone rushed out into the streets and hoped for the best. Back in 1964 a magnitude 9.2 quake hit Anchorage with the loss of over 130 lives. I heard that the ground dropped over eight feet in places during that one.  When I spoke to Autumn, she was still pretty shaken up, and rightfully so. You never know if that's the worst of it or if there is more to come. Unfortunately there are aftershocks that can go on for some time. The USGS mentioned that in the next week or so you can reasonably expect anywhere from 84 to 610 aftershocks of magnitude 3 or above. Needless to say, sleep can be hard to come by when you're not sure if the ceiling is going to collapse on top of you or your bed will end up on the ground floor during the night. Fortunately, there were no deaths related to the quake, and I haven't even heard of anyone injured, although I'm not up  there so I'm not on top of it all. I found it somewhat interesting that the Anchorage Daily News ran an article about who to really thank that there weren't any deaths compared to earthquakes around the world. While I acknowledge that building practices in Anchorage have greatly improved since the 1964 quake, I suspect that God in all His mercy played an even bigger part in the fact that the loss of life was non-existent. Autumn's home sustained mild damage,mainly broken glass wear and a heavy dresser that had been turned over. No gas or water leaks though, and the electricity was back on in a matter of hours, which was really fortunate, as the temps were in the twenties and without heat, the water lines would eventually freeze and burst. I mentioned to her to video tape the damage or at least get pictures for insurance purposes. Her friend Molly didn't fare as well. There was damage to the sheet rock and extensive damage inside the house with broken mirrors, dishes, glasses, pictures, plants knocked over and more. I saw a notice from the city of Anchorage asking that people put off taking their broken items to the dump for a day or two to keep from overwhelming the business. I watched the news on Friday night and saw a lot of cars on the highway trying to return home from work in Anchorage, which required a lot of patience as the roads in some places were severely damaged. I saw long lines of people in the supermarkets trying to buy bread, water, milk and other items. It was a reminder to keep a supply of non perishable food on hand in case of emergencies, as well as bottled water. We never know when an emergency might happen, whether fire, flood,earthquake or some other disaster, and having the necessary means to deal with the every day needs can alleviate a lot of stress. It certainly doesn't hurt to make sure your car is at least half full of gas, that you have an adequate supply of any meds you might take and plenty of working flashlights or candles. I'm just so thankful that there was no loss of life. God knows it could have turned out different.