The first shock hit when we were standing in the city gardens, chatting with two friends at the start of what was supposed to be a long night on the town. That first grumble left the city in silence. No one knew what it was. Lights flickered. Traffic halted. Then came the quake.
It tore the earth up from under our feet. I lost sight of my friends. I ran. The darkness became a blur of rock, steel, and bodies. Tarmac tore like wet paper. Buildings toppled like cards. My own screams became lost on the maelstrom of chaos.
And that horror was only the first of it. Humans have lived through nature's fury before. What pushed its head up through the earth that day changed it all.
Paddy Dobson
12th October 2023