I am alive and well after the Earthquake of 2010. Actually, I haven’t heard of anyone perishing.
I was in my office on the 5th floor when the building started to shake. It literally felt like a dump truck driving by…I thought that was strange considering I never feel that near the building.
Sure enough, the real tremors started a second later! It was quite intense. I really had no idea what to make of it at first. I was thinking something in the basement may have blown up (like the boiler room or something) but then after 30 seconds I realized it must be an earthquake of some sort.
I’m not sure if this follows strict evacuation procedures, but I hightailed it out of there! Grabbed my iPad and made a run for it down the stairs. I have to admit that I was a little fearful being stuck inside a building when an earthquake happened. In hindsight, it wasn’t a big deal, but at that exact moment, it was a big deal.
I made it outside and didn’t see any of my team mates (I sit in another area so didn’t see them on the way out). I roamed around a bit…everyone’s cellphones were jammed and people were wondering what the heck was going on. I did manage to find Stephen and Aski and hung out there for awhile and then noticed that some team mates were still in the building ten minutes later! I was quite mad but then realized that they were still waiting for the evacuation order.
In the end, we were asked to go home for the day and I pondered how I was going to get my car out of town. I was headed to Perth to see Lynn and Sue and my parents. Here I was stuck in Quebec with my wheels, and word was that traffic lights were down on the Ottawa side, everyone was in the streets and there are only a few bridges from Quebec to Ontario.
What to do? I did the most logical thing anyone can do in a situation like this…make your way AWAY from the crowd. I started taking some back streets and got stuck in a few places. I may or may not have travelled across what can only be described as a ‘most certainly not legal pathway for a vehicle, but most certainly awesome pathway to another street that would get me out of town’ and headed West. Traffic didn’t seem too bad until I made it to the Island Park bridge (I since found out that traffic is usually pretty bad around that area anyhow) and hightailed it on the Parkway, down Carling all the way to Kanata and then hopped on the 417 and headed out of town.
I make it sound like it was a quick trip but it took me an hour to get to Kanata from Gatineau. I’m trying to figure out how long it would have taken me on a normal day….I would say I spent an additional 20 minutes on the road which isn’t too bad.
Perth actually isn’t that far from Ottawa. 50 kms later, I arrive at Lynn and Sue’s place which was a wooded paradise. 12 acres of land gets you that! I had arrived just as my parents arrived so we got the grand tour. I especially enjoyed the trap door to the basement! The tranquility of the woods was amazing as well…and they are right next to the Tay River!
We had an excellent feed of salmon, a few beer and rye and then we went inside to play some guitar for awhile while it poured outside. I’m not sure what time we made it to bed, but I can tell you I was up quite early the next morning with the sun coming in the windows! After some breakfast, I headed back for a nap and then we headed into Perth for a quick tour. It’s quite a lovely little town. I love towns where they have downtown on one or two main streets with a nice river running through it.
We had some grub at Fiddelhead’s Pub and Grill and then I headed home. Thanks to Lynn and Sue for the hospitality! I’m also hoping my parents are going to have a great summer down in Gaspe!