Earthquake

Last Thursday was definitely a crazy day for us. Just after 8:00 am, we had a 6.4 earthquake that was centered about 30-40 miles from us, which just happens to be where Typhoon Morakot hit the hardest as well. We are used to tremblers here because Taiwan has small earthquakes nearly daily (though we have only felt 5-6 since we've been back). But soon after it started, I could tell this one was different. The ground shook so hard that it bounced me out of my chair (especially when added to my adrenaline), and I ran to get the kids and took them to the safest part of our house. I heard some things falling off of shelves and I watched our ceiling fan shake so hard that I was sure it would fall. I was trying to decide if I should leave the building when Scott called and he said that the school was all evacuating so I should too. By the end of the conversation, the shaking had ended, but when you live in Taiwan you know that one is surely followed by more. And as I descended down our 12 flights of stairs with my 3 children and the couple of items that they had decided to save (Meili's Teddy and Sophie's current comfort item of choice, a towel), I rethought our beautiful view and thought we should have opted for a lower level.
After about 30 minutes of playing downstairs in our play area, we decided to come back upstairs. I watched the earthquake report come in throughout the day and there were over 20 more aftershocks! We felt 4 or 5, especially one around 4:00 in the afternoon that was a 5.7. When that one came around, sweet little Sophie said, "Momma, we are shaking like pudding!" Needless to say, I checked our 72-hour kit that day and I had nightmares about earthquakes that night.
The ward called to check on us and one of our friends who is from around here told us that it was the strongest she had ever felt. Most earthquakes in Taiwan are in the North/East. The news reported it was the worst in southern Taiwan in over a century! So between this earthquake and the typhoon, Taiwan is giving us a real show!
Oh, and I should mention that as far as I have read there were no deaths, just 60+ injuries. And though our power didn't go out, strangely enough Taipei's did (which is way in the north of the country). There were some buildings that collapsed (old and dilapidated probably), and others received damage, but Taiwan's buildings are built for earthquakes so we didn't really have any damage. Oh, that is except the girls' jewelry box which is one of the things that fell.