Earthquakes

Last night a fairly major earthquake struck Taiwan, with many aftershocks, both large and small, continuing through the evening and night. The epicenter was in Nantou county, which is only about an hour's drive south from where we live. Initial reports put the quake at a magnitude 6.0, but other reports say it was as high as 7.0.

We have felt numerous quakes in the past 3 years since returning to Taiwan. None of them however, made my heart jump the way it did last night. We were in the middle of eating an early supper (as Paige had her piano lesson at 6:00 p.m.) when a sudden jolt hit and the whole house rattled and shook. Eileen and I quickly looked at each other and said, "Let's get out of here!" We ran to the lane outside, finding many of our neighbors had done the same. As we congregated in the lane we suddenly noticed that Erin (our oldest daughter, age 15, with Down Syndrome) was not with us. We looked back in the house; she was merrily sitting at the dining table eating her supper. Eileen went back in to coax her out, but she wasn't about to leave her food without a fight. I had to go back in and we literally had to drag her out. Fun! We felt bad later for not even thinking about her and just running out of the house. BAD parents, BAD parents!! Guess we'll have to do some earthquake drills to teach her what to do.

You can find more info about earthquakes in Taiwan here.