Oh boy. This morning I got up at about 6 am to use the bathroom. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the constant rain that seemed to have come down all night long. I had a tough time falling back asleep, but eventually did. Then, we awoke to the entire house shaking. Our girls ran crying into our room. We told them to stand in the door way. The shaking lasted for about 15-20 seconds. The first thing that went through my head was that structures in Hawaii probably aren’t built with earthquake resistance in mind. In fact, growing up, I always thought that we wouldn’t/couldn’t have earthquakes here. This one was reported to have a magnitude of about 6.5.
Even though things weren’t falling off dressers, shelves, or walls, it was a scary time. Of course power went out just about state wide. The Big Island of Hawaii was hit the worse as the earthquake was centered near there. Some houses there do have significant damage and our thoughts and prayers are with the families there.
We all went over to my MIL house for dinner. They have a generator and a propane grill/stove so they had some light and were able to cook. When we left at 6:30 pm, they were still without power. Thankfully, when we arrived back at home our neighborhood did have power restored. I have never (at least in recent years) been so thankful for electricity. My son was happy because we could make him the cup of milk he couldn’t have at my MIL’s (they didn’t have milk) and we had been trying to open the fridge as little as possible. Plus having the power and lights on is just less scary for the kids. Also, I’m glad to be able to get my internet access back.
Both DH and I are on the computer, but we have yet to turn on the TV to see if cable service has been restored. The internet is such a great source of information and connection to others. Needless to say, this is a day that we will probably always remember. I am just so thankful that my family is safe and together!