So recently there has been a few tremors and earthquakes going on in and close to Peru. The biggest ones were 8.0's and more in Chile and although we didn't actually feel a thing here in Lima we were still issued a Tsunami warning. I knew with coming to Peru that earthquakes were a major risk and in our first few weeks here all the exchange students had to go to a weekend camp where they taught us all about earthquakes, tsunamis, and any other natural disaster that can occur here. We learned that these things are serious and watched some pretty scary videos that showed us that these things are really dangerous. Apparently there's a giant earthquake coming (according to the experts) but I feel pretty prepared. All the buildings here are built in the most stable way possible to ensure they won't fall in the case of seismic activity, and also there are marked safety zones in every room of public buildings so that if you can't get outside in time, there is a place that you can go where you know it is safe. In addition to the safety zones, a lot of public places like hotels or museums have marked meeting places, so that if you are separated from your family or friends you can find each other easily. Also if you are in an area that you aren't familiar with when an earthquake strikes and you aren't sure if you're in the danger zone of a tsunami, there are signs that will tell you if you are and the direction that you should go to get to a secure area.
All of my time here so far I have felt two earthquakes, one in colegio, and the other in my house. In colegio it was fairly weak and I only felt it because i was leaning on the wall on the second floor, and I immediately thought to the training we received and how we should get outside as soon as possible but everyone else decided it wasn't strong enough to make a big deal out of. While I was wondering why people weren't moving towards the door everyone else just was sitting there shouting "temblor" (tremor) so that everyone was aware. After they were all laughing at me a little bit because this is totally normal to them all and they were surprised when i said it was my first time feeling an earthquake. I told them that in Michigan we don't know anything about earthquakes but we are exerts at tornados, which also seemed to surprise them.
The second time was pretty soon after; I was in my room and I had been sitting on my bed but I stood up and was walking to go get something when it struck. I felt it at first and heard my host mom shout temblor like they did in colegio. This time I took a breath and was like "ok Hannah, just stay calm and it's gonna be fine" but then something scared me this time. I could hear all the windows beginning to rattle and shake in their frames. It made me pretty nervous so I started to go look for my host mom who had disappeared from her room and then I headed to the door. I found my mom freaking out with the empleada and telling us to go outside. She was more scared than me!! Anyway, I think the strangest part was that I definitely felt these two earthquakes but the other exchange students all who lived pretty close to me didn't feel them, and actually felt others. We were super close geographically but we all felt different ones. That just kind of surprised me a little. Soooo the point of all this is mom, don't freak out, im gonna come home alive. The people and the buildings here are built to withstand earthquakes, even if this supposed "big one" is coming I think we'll all be ok.
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