Earthquake witness

MSNBC.com readers report on Asia quake

updated 10:51 a.m. ET April 19, 2005

A large earthquake hit Monday off Indonesia's Sumatra island (full story). MSNBC.com asked readers in the region to share what they felt and witnessed. Here are some of their reports. (We are no longer taking submissions on this topic.)

Lights dancing to strange tune
It was 00:20am when it happened. I was reading when I started noticing the light hanging from the ceiling of my bedroom swinging from side to side. I went around my apartment checking for the other lights and they were all dancing at a strange tune. Then I realized there must be an earth tremor strong enough to send us vibrations all the way up to my 32nd floor apartment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I saw all the confirming reports on CNN the following morning. Thank God no tsunami!
—Maithã Ng, ala Lumpur, Malaysia

I just screamed, it's an earthquake
I was with my husband and cousin, playing pool on the 3rd Floor, Metro Club, Klang. At about 12.09pm as I was sipping my drink, I felt the table I was sitting at shake, and I felt the swaying of my chair. So I asked the waiter standing next to me, why are the tables moving, and he just said, it could be due to the loud music downstairs. But as I raised my head to watch the TV above me I saw all the televisions shaking and the pool table lights shaking tremendously.

I just screamed, it’s an earthquake, and immediately my husband, Richard peeped out of the window but saw nothing bad. We could still feel the tremor and we ran out of the building. We took the lift to the ground floor since the exit to the stairs was blocked. Even the lift was shaking. As soon as we reached the ground floor, we ran outside and found many others who had felt the same out there. It was truly an experience to witness the greatness of nature.
—Barbara Marcia, Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan

Aftershocks
I felt the tremors last night around 00.20. I was reading in bed when my whole bed began to rock gently, the toilet door started banging against its frame and the curtains were swaying. This went on for three to five minutes but it felt longer. I knew immediately it was an earthquake somewhere. The residents in my apartment building evacuated but most were calm. It was an hour before we went back inside.

I don't know about other aftershocks but I felt another one this afternoon at about 14.10. Nothing has been reported so far but my colleagues and I are sure that we felt something because the water in our glasses was swirling and we felt dizzy, like there was some sort of movement.

I am impressed at the speed of the tsunami warnings, I only wish this was our reaction on December 26th. I also think we should be more prepared in keeping emergency kits. My hope is that those who are directly affected by the quake are safe.
—Alia Soraya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Shaking house
I live in a two-story brick house in Prai, Penang State, Malaysia. I was watching TV downstairs with my wife when the earthquake struck. It was about 0010 Malaysian time. At first we heard a rattling sound at the front door (very strange noise, we thought the noise was caused by strong wind but we were wrong), then the wooden chair where I sat started shaking, then I realized it was an earthquake. The chandelier and the fan were also shaking. I ran upstairs to wake up all my children. The house was shaking and I felt like a dizzy man. We quickly got out of the house. The quake lasted about two to three minutes. There is no apparent damage to the house.
—Amat, Prai, Penang

Initially I thought I was sleepy
It was around midnight when it happened and I had just came back very late from work last night. When I was reading my email on my computer, I felt a slight swaying motion happening and my computer monitor was moving slightly back and forth. Initially I thought I was sleepy and started to take deep breaths to make me more awake and alert but the swaying was still there. Looking around I saw my camera hanging on the door and swinging and my heart sank as I knew an earthquake was happening somewhere in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia country area.

I went to bed praying to God to help us and hoping that it would not be like the tsunami.
—Albert Bravo Quah, Singapore

Everyone was out of their houses
It was about 12:15 a.m. I was online, surfing the Internet, when shaking start to occur. My computer desk was shaking as well as my hands. The sliding door started to jar and shake. The fan started to turn while jarring. At first, I didn't think it was a quake. When I realized it might be the impact of another quake, the shaking and jarring started to subside. When I peered outside, everyone was out of their houses. Then everything started to calm down.
—Anusha Apparau, Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia

TV shaking
I was watching a movie at my place at Idaman Sutera, Medan Idaman, Kuala Lumpur, a 27-story high condominium. It was just before midnight. Suddenly, the picture on the screen appeared distorted. I thought it was due to the poor quality of the DVD, as it was a pirated copy. Then, I noticed that the indoor TV antennae that I had placed on top of the TV shook. The TV stand had 'shifted' and the couch where I sat vibrated. I heard about the last tremour in Penang, but I had never experienced it. Then I heard my neighbours walking down to the lower ground.
—Ling, Medan Idaman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

March 28, 2005

Utter panic on the streets
It is 2.15 pm (local time) and I was travelling from the Colombo airport and on the way there was utter panic on the streets of downtown Colombo. These are people living close to the sea and almost all the families are fleeing their homes. All the lorries, tempos and buses are full and people are trying to get into anything to move beyond the coast towards any safer place.
—Saroj Dash, Colombo, Sri Lanka

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