In the Mouth of a 6.9 Magnitude Earthquake

Like any other day, it was just a typical Tuesday morning for a student as me. I woke up from bed, went to the bathroom and took a bath, ate my breakfast, had my toothbrush, wore my school uniform, and waited for a tricycle heading school. Cars' horn were blaring, and drivers were yelling at each other on the middle of the national highway. Traffic. Well, I was used to it already anyway. Minutes passed, cars can move and at last, I arrived at the school.

Our school was situated nearby the sea. Just by looking at the window, you can witness the bluish reflection of the clouds on the surface of the water. Its massiveness can really make you dumbfounded just by looking at it. To add more description in my school, there is a four-storey building beside the school gymnasium. And, my room during that very time was on the fourth floor. Honestly, you don't need to exercise at home because just by walking up and down, it can make you perspire already.

First subject of Tuesday morning was English. The teacher was kind of strict, and we had an issue to settle that time. The other day, we just finished taking the first periodical exam. Some of my classmates were caught cheating, and, the whole class was in danger and was doomed. 8:00 AM, she arrived wearing her typical 'mad and strict' face carrying a pile of textbooks when all of a sudden, she slammed all of those books on the table and yelled so loud. Because of her anger, she let us all stand up one by one, and made us explain why such blunder was committed.

After all my classmates have spoken, it was my turn so I stood up and courageously said, 'cheating has always been part of the education system'. She rolled her eyes towards me and insulted me in front of the class that made me emotional. I remember, everyone was so nervous that time and others were even crying. I was on my process of sitting back on my chair when, all of the sudden, a very strong earthquake occured. We did not know how to react, literally. Like, we still could not believe that the four-storey building is swaying already.

My classmates were shouting, we did not know what to do. We went out of the classroom, even if it was still shaking and left all our bags I was holding an iron bar to stop me from collapsing because, I really felt dizzy that time and I felt like collapsing on the floor. I had too much things inside my head like, building collapsing and we were trapped inside. All I did was just pray. When we reached the third floor, a stampede happened. It was still shaking and we had hard time passing out the stairs. I could not also breathe well that time. On the second floor, it was still continuously shaking and a student even attempted to jump off the building and held at the flag pole. There, he was able to get out of the building. Minutes passed, we finally went outside. I was able to breathe properly.

We hurried into an open field, and I saw a lot of students who fainted including some of my classmates. I looked for my little sister, and fortunately, she was safe. We were advised to go home immediately; afraid that aftershocks might happen and a tsunami might occur. All of us boys in the section were tasked to get all the bags inside. I realized how strong it was when I saw all the roof ripped, and the big crack on the walls. A lot of stuffs above the roof also fell. Afterwards, we headed home.

A lot of news were flooding the social media about the said earthquake. There I knew, it was a 6.9 magnitude earthquake and, it was the first time I experienced in my entire life. To be honest, the trauma is still here. Even just a small shake, makes me nervous already. And guess what happened to that teacher? She fled to the first floor already while were still on the fourth floor trying to survive. She left us all alone. Fortunately, we all survived and no life was taken and that's way more important. From, being a normal to day, turning out to be the most unforgettable moment in the mouth of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake.