I woke up early on the very ordinary Friday, peeking at my phone and replied some messages hesitantly, put my phone beside me and continue to sleep *I should be ready for work at that time though..but..yeah....* when a sudden and strong vibration causes the whole building to shake and producing some kind of a 'kreek' sound. Panic, I am not sure whether to stay stone-shock on my bed or to run. Tips to face earthquake(EQ) flashed through my head, and in a flash, I was dressed (though not an appropriate wear to be present in the crowd, but who cares) and drag/tag-along my big bro and cousin to evacuate ourselves outside the 4 stories building we lived in.
Outside was more chaotic. Everyone is screaming, some in tears and the elderly are pale and shock. I was too. The quake seem so long, though it is reported only last for 10 seconds or so.
Some people are ready to leave the place too. I want to call my mom and big bro who lived in Ranau but then I noticed that I left my phone upstairs. Oh God -_-
A good 30 minutes or so later, I decided to go back in and prepare for works. That is where I turn on my phone and received more than hundreds of worried and concerned text messages. Exchanging info and find out that the quake hit almost the whole Sabah and affect Mt. Kinabalu the most. Ok, that is not good. My friend was one of the climbers yesterday. She was supposed to descend to Laban Rata at the time when the quake hit. We were worried sick. Lot of things happened and many version of the EQ came from various people, which I refuse to took it seriously.
Reaching my workplace, I was informed by my families is Ranau that the aftershock/smaller quake is constantly happening there. So, I go back to my hometown. I think its around 2 a.m. that day that we can finally calm down when we received the news that my friend managed to reach to safe area and is contactable. But, the aftershock continue until 5 a.m. though it is not published anywhere (probably due to its insignificant magnitude) but still, people who lived at my area can feel it. The aftershock is still hunting us until now (070615) and the last one just passed by the minutes I am writing this post.
I still can't believe this is happening at my own place. I am sad that our pride, Mt. Kinabalu changed physically. We can say that 'she is not the same anymore' :'(
Being a nature lover since I was a kid, this situation really touched me emotionally. It is not explainable but right now, I am all numb and feel disconnected in some way.
And I am still beyond terrified due to the first massive EQ in Sabah at least.
I pray to dear Allah that HE will protect us (Sabahan) from bigger misfortune. I pray that HE give us the strength to faced all this. I believe that things happen for a reason. I (personally) will take it as a life lesson. HE probably sending his messages and warning to us via this quake so that we will wake up and realize that what we did until now, is harming ourselves and the environment. It is time to clean our heart and soul and pray more.
#PrayforSabah #SabahQuake
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