So, shortly after midnight, I was sound asleep, and was awoken by a terrible shaking going on. I had no idea what was happening, and I was still quite out-of-it, trying to wake up, in the total mass confusion that was happening all around me. Chaos, the thought that the world was ending actually did enter my mind, that this was it. THE END! I remember laying up in bed, and seeing another girl in a bed close by sitting up in bed. The cabin has two space heaters that throw a LOT of light around the cabin, making everything clearly visible. You can easily read by the light of these space heaters. Everything was shaking violently, the whole cabin is creaking and squeaking. It was like someone had grabbed the cabin lifted it off the ground and was shaking it violently. In fact, at first, in my half woke state, I thought I was in a tralier, and someone on the outside was rocking it back and forth. It continues for about 8 seconds, then everything goes black. The power just went out, the shaking continues for another few seconds, then subsides to a slower, gentler rocking motion. There are 5 of us on the cabin, and no one says anything. Total silence for about 15 seconds after, everyone is in a state of shock. The cabin is still swaying back and forth, ever so slightly.
At this point, I still hadn't quite grasped what had happened (and was still happening). Finally I realized the only logical explanation. I blurted out to everyone in the cabin, "Ok, I'm not positive, but I think that was an EARTHQUAKE! AND IT WAS THE MOST EXCITING THING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED!!!" That kind of broke the ice, and I got a few chuckles. An earthquake!!!!!!! One of the guys pulled out his torch to give a little light no the situation, and I stood up. The ground was still shaking, I could feel it. One of the things that was going through my head was that I was expecting to see a total devastation outside. Quite frankly, I expected to see a wasteland laid before my eyes when I looked outside, and I expected to not see any stars at all in the beautiflly clear night sky. Part of the devastation would wipe out all the stars. Not sure why I thought that, just the shock of it. I opened the door, and looked out. Everything was still standing as it was when I went to bed, the stars were still shining in the crisp night sky.
Well, we all started talking, and I said that that had to be at least a 5 on the Richter Scale. I have been in two earthquake simulators in NZ, that simulated a 5.something on the Richter Scale, and that was at least as violent as the simulators. The European couple got up (the ones with the torch) and remarked that they needed a smoke, and went outside for a cigarette. We're all totally wide awake now, sitting up in bed, or walking around the cabin. All the while this is happening, there are small aftershocks that gently shake the foundation, off-and-on. As they're having their smoke, a car pulls up in front of our cabin. It's the owner, he's just coming by to make sure everone is all right. We ask him in earthquakes are common here. I didn't think they were on the south island, on the north island, ya, but not down here. He said small quakes are common, but he said that was a BIG one. He figured it was 8 on the Richter Scale, but I knew it couldn't have been that big, an 8 would be the granddaddy of earthquakes.
I used the toilet and looked at my watch, it was 12:14. We all kind of talked for a while, then slowly went back to bed, no one is in any mood to try to sleep. The 3 girls in the room didn't like it too much, the other guy, well, he was pretty quiet, I got the impression that he was VERY shook up about the whole thing, even moreso than the girls. Me, on the other hand, I thought it was AMAZING! I loved it! I've always wanted to experience an earthquake!!! It was, truly, one of the most terrifying things that I have ever experienced, because I had no idea what was happening, but it was amazingly awesome at the same time.
Anyway, throughout the night, small aftershoks rocked the building, and we could feel every single one, being attuned to the idea of being in an earthquake. The power came back on at 1:24. We had rather BIG aftershock at about 2:15, that once again shook fairly violently, and everyone sat up in bed again after that on. Not nearly as violent as the original BIG one, though. The adrenaline wearing off, I think it was shortly after this, I dozed off, and fell asleep. I woke up shortly before 8:00, and kind of soaked in bed, and shortly after 8:00, another kind of large aftershock. The two girls had the TV turned on, watching the news, and the news item indicated an earthquake shook southwest NZ, from Queenstown, Te Anau (where I was) and all the way down to Invercargill. It was a 7.1 on the Richter Scale.
I showered, went up the main cabin for breakfast. They had a sign posted that the earthquake had knocked out the water in the kitchen in the main cabin, and they note also indicated it was a 7.1 on the scale.
Needless to say, everyone had a lot to talk about in the morning.
I WAS IN AN EARTHQUAKE! A BIG ONE!!! YAY!!!
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