Mass Hysteria

Last Monday was one of the longest and most stressful, not to mention one of the scariest days of my life. And nothing beats having to experience it miles away from my family.

I arrived in Cebu early in the morning for my first day of work that day. And since I was scheduled to go to work mid afternoon, I decided to pass the time at SM Cebu on my own while finishing up all my requirements. I dined at KFC and it was just like a normal day with people minding their own businesses. Then at around 11:30 in the morning, I felt the ground shake. I thought I was hallucinating or was just too tired from the trip but then all the people started shouting and was already rushing outside of the mall. Of course, I tried to stay calm and tried not to run but then SM announced that everyone should all get out of the mall 'coz their might be another quake happening. I immediately gathered all my things and left the mall and headed home.

After that, there were a lot of aftershocks that occurred but it was of lesser magnitude. At around 2:30 in the afternoon, I was already at IT Park to prepare for my training but since it was still a little early, I decided to stay outside of the building and pass the time.And then after a few minutes, people started running and panicking. I was trying desperately to ask someone what was happening and then a man told me that there was a tsunami coming and water was already invading downtown and it was coming our way.

This time, a lot more people were coming out of the buildings and started running uptown. I didn't know what to do and I really panicked that I started running also while desperately trying to call my mom on the phone. But to no avail, the call wouldn't go through. I tried to ride a jeepney so that I could reach home faster but then the traffic was horrible that the jeepney didn't move and people were already crying on the streets. I decided to run home and was still trying to reach my mom and when the call went through, I started crying.

My mom told me to not panic and go home to get all my money and important documents then go to a place where there will be a lot of people. I stayed in front of a mall and then after around 30 minutes, some of the officials announced that everything was just false alarm and the tsunami warning was already lifted out. I couldn't have been more relieved. I thought I was gonna die alone in a place far away from my family. And to think, it was my first day in Cebu and my supposed to be first day of work. What a way to start, right? But because of the incident, our training was moved on the next day.

I called my mom again and she told me to just stay at home and they will try to update me as much as they can. There were still a lot of aftershocks that night that I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep. I just tried to pray and ask God for guidance and to keep us all safe all throughout. I swear, that was the most terrifying moments of my life.And during these times, God is the only one I could trust and depend on.

I'm terribly sorry for the long tale. I don't expect you to read all of it, I just has to share it and let it all out. I hope and pray that everyone would all be safe.

xoxo,
biang