5.7 Earthquakes…
It’s the strangest thing to experience an earthquake…of what I found out minutes later, was 5.7 on the Richter Scale
We are on the 12th Floor of a building to the east of Lisbon…remember Lisbon is in an earthquake zone, the last being in 1755, which basically destroyed downtown Lisbon, the most modern city in the world at the time…remember this was in the heyday of Portugal discoveries.
Anyway, as the Actress said to the Bishop….what does a 5.7 feel like: It’s 1.40ish am: The first few seconds you don’t feel too much but you are wondering what the hell it is. Within 3 to 4 seconds, you realise it’s an earthquake, as all your furniture begins to shake (and I mean move shake) and there is a very loud sound of the building vibrating…things begin to fall off the walls around you. The lights stay on so no real panic, although you shout out. FUCK…IT’S AN EARTHQUAKE…and by the time you realise it, she’s gone…It was a proverbial quickie.
Within seconds, I am on skype to a neighbour, André, to find out if anyone else felt it….with a few more seconds, the Twitter world of Lisbon is alive…by 3 minutes, there are tweets from all over Portugal and even Spain, as the epicentre is West of Gibralta.
Quite an experience and you once again realise the power of nature…i would prefer not to be around in a 9.0…for now, all is well…
This is what it looks on a Sismograph: 
