Your stories from the Hawaiian earthquake

I had just brought my wife home from the hospital on Saturday. We had our third child, a son, on Thursday. Suffice it to say we hadn't gotten much sleep the night before due to our new-born waking every couple of hours. I had been awakended by our two daughters at approximately 6:30 and had just finished feeding them, we were sitting on our living room couch when I first noticed a big rumble as if someone had started a diesel big rig on our front lawn. The house shook and the girls, aged one and two, took notice and looked at me for comfort, I tried to reassure them and told them 'that's an earthquake'! having experienced mild tremors before while living here and in California. The tremors subsided, and I thought all was passed. I was about to get the girls off the couch and check on my wife and our new-born son who were sleeping in the bedroom when things got really interesting. The next quake rattled our house to its foundations, shaking the walls violenltly enough to knock pictures to the floor and knick-knacks off of all our shelves. My two year old really didn't like that and started to cry. At about this time my wife came running into the living room and I asked her if she felt that....her reply was "How could I not!" About 20 minutes later the power went out. We didn't get it back until about an hour ago. Losing electricity for only twelve hours will really make you appreciate the little things you take for granted. It will also let you know that you don't have all the different types of batteries that you thought you had stashed away. All's well that ends well though, the radio is what kept us linked to the world. The professionals manning our local radio stations did a great job providing updates and keeping the citizens appraised of the situation. The first question everyone in Hawaii has after an earthquake is: "When is the Tsunami following?" the folks on the radio relayed within half an hour that the NWS had not put out an associated tsunami warning, we haven't been wiped out yet...so they must have been right! --Philip Grathwol (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

I live in Kawaihae, literally miles from the epicenter of the Earthquake. I was awoken at approximately 7:10 AM Sunday morning to the rumbling and violent shaking of my room. I watched as the concrete of my walls cracked and the lava rock on my front doors crumbled. Everything that was glass broke and everything not bolted down fell down. My house was virtually demolished and my family spent the remainder of the day cleaning up rubble. My ceilings and walls all have cracks in them and one building of my house split down the center. --Zac Nealy (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

We are here on Oahu and the earthquake woke us up around 7:00 a.m. Our first thoughts were if it was Kim Jong Il of North Korea trying to hit us with a Nuclear bomb. We didn't have any radio connections until about 7:30 a.m. and none of our cell phones were working. Of course we were thinking the worst and I sent my husband to the store right away for some emergency supplies. Thankfully no one had that idea yet and at that time there was no line. Later on, lines were REALLY long all over the island. There was only one radio station working for the first couple of hours and we heavily relied on them for all our information. They basically just advised us to stay at home, not use water, and not to panic. There were already reports coming in of people price-gauging on supplies and one caller came in and said "my kids are asking for more money for their allowance for work they did last week!" It lightened the mood quite a bit. We didn't have any damage, but we were without power until just a couple of minutes ago. It was 13.5 hours without power, but no biggie. Thankfully we are all safe and sound. It has made us realize the importance of having back up supplies and having a land-line phone. We rely WAY too much on electronics nowadays and people just aren't prepared for things like this. I'll be keeping a stockpile from now on... --Jenica Lemmons (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

I was in downtown Waikiki at a sports bar at 7 am watching Sunday "afternoon" football when the ground started rumbling for 20 seconds. A few minutes later, all the televisions shut down and all the lights turned off. Looking outside, it was clear that all the traffic lights and buildings were dark as well. Within a few minutes, there were masses of people outside of the buildings. It had been raining on and off the entire night, including a downpour at that specific time, and most people were huddled around the shops and hotels rather than walking on the streets. There were long lines forming quicly in front the few convenience stores that were still open. Most stores just did not open or promptly closed. --Amit Gupta (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

We were in Maui at Maria Lanakila Catholic Church. Mass had just started when the priest said Let us Pray and the building and ground began to shake for what seemed to be a couple of minutes. At first everyone looked around and then we all left in a big hurry. We finished a very short mass outside. My wife and I talked to some of the local people at the church and they all knew that this quake was centered on the big Island of Hawaii. We returned to our Hotel the Marriott Ocean Club to find the power was out. We made the best of the situation as power was restored thoughout the island later that morning.Hopefully there will be no fatalities. Henry Louis Rochester, New York --Henry Louis (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

I live on Oahu's North Shore in a little town called Waialua. I was quietly sitting in my recliner drinking my coffee and reading the Sunday paper when I heard a rumble and then more rumbling...I first thought, "Hmmm, I didn't know that the military was conducting training this morning (we are about 8 miles from Schofield Barracks) and then everything started shaking! We were shaking in waves from Kaena Pt to town (north/sounth) and it seemed to last about 40 sec. My daughter, Miki'ala jumped out of bed and came running.."what is it Mom?" "Earthquake honey, help me catch these items that are about to fall off the shelves..." We did feel an aftershock about 6-7 min later, but nothing like the first one. Glad no one was killed. --Shelly Leslie (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

I was at a beach camping site about 11 miles north of Kona off mile marker 88. Myself and a group of friends had been camping the past two nights. Myself and one other friend headed to the beach before 7am to surf. Right after settling in on the beach, we felt everything shaking, almost unable to stand. I saw the picnic table by me move from where it was, although it was only an inch or two. After the shaking stopped we gathered our things and went back to the campsite to leave. A few minutes later, the first aftershock hit, stopping us in our tracks. When the aftershock ended, we began to smell sulfur in the air. We picked up the pace on getting out of there. At the campsite, we told everyone that we were leaving and whoever wanted to join could and we hiked up the trail back to our vehicles near Highway 11. Luckily no Tsunami came otherwise I would not be here right now. From everything I have read and heard, I figure that we were 1 mile directly west from the Epicenter. There were massive rock and landslides all over Kona and heading west inland. It was an experience I will never forget. --Juan Nunez (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

We live in Papaikou, four miles outside of Hilo. My husband was asleep after working a late shift at Pohakaloa Training Area, and the our duaghter was in the living room watching her show, I had gone outside to get something from the car and as I was coming in, the carport started shaking and groaning. I ran into the living room to grab our girl who was trying to save her bear from under another toy. We huddled under the doorframe and waited for it to end. It's the first time I have ever been so worried for our baby, and so thankful it wasnt worse. The few broken things can be replaced, the teddy bear doesnt get hurt from being squished, and my silly girl can go on taking care of her baby bear. I thank every god ever concieved that it wasn't worse. --Alisha Skelly (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

Submitted by Tom Sullivan From Tom Sullivan: "A 20 foot section of our 25 foot high rock wall came crashing down onto the street during this morning's quake."

Just after 7 a.m., the mirror on my wife's dresser started rattling. My wife thought maybe a helicopter was hovering over the house. I guessed it was a heavy truck outside the house. I was getting out of bed to check when the rattling stopped. I got back on the bed and was about to start reading a book when the mirror started rattling again. About 10 seconds later, the whole house started rumbling. It actually took some time to realize we were in the middle of an earthquake. Perhaps because it was more of a rolling sensation than a jarring, shaking feeling, but the whole family remained calm - actually feeling more excited than frightened. I went downstairs and turned on the TV to see which news channel would report the details first. Then I got on the internet to see if the seismograph readings from the stations on the big island were available online. Then the power cut out. My sister-in-law and her husband were at their timeshare on Kauai. They noticed the shaking but didn't think anything about it. They just completed checking out when the clerk asked, "Were you planning on going somewhere today?" When they said they had a flight to Honolulu, then back to the mainland, the clerk informed them the airports were all closed. However, they were not allowed to check back in for several hours until there were confirmed cancellations. Even though the day was extremely inconvenient for travelers, there was a positive side. On our street, all the neighbors checked in on each other, making sure everyone had enough food and water, charcoal or propane for their grills... the event seemed to bring out everyone's good side. It really restored my faith in the basic goodness of people, and their willingness to sacrifice to help out those around them. It was the best Sunday "sermon" I have experienced in years. --Steve Scalf (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

I live on the North Shore of Oahu. We felt the earthquake here at 7:09 am. It didn't last that long and we had no damage. The worst part of it was losing power for most of the day. Power was restored at 5:00 pm. I was living in Huntington Beach, Ca when the Northridge quake happened, and this quake was not nearly as scary as that one was. I was just surprised that we felt it this far away from the epicenter. We are just thankful Hawaii officials responded as quickly as they did with information on KSSK radio and getting information out to all the residents and tourists. --Brooke Ward (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

Submitted by Uday Kari Uday Kari took this picture of earthquake damage to the Hana Highway in Maui.

We were on the island of Maui in Hawaii, driving back to Kihei from Hana. Plenty of landslides, already in the news about the Big Island, but little known about Maui, especially critical along the ancient Hana Highway. Some boulders were the size of refrigerators. Lucky that quake happenned early Sunday...only people we saw on this road seemed to headed to Church...talked to a preacher on his way to church in Hana...his van apparently almost pushed off the cliff by falling rocks...but look pretty good...no injuries or fatalities. --Uday Kari (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

I was at the Aston Kona by the Sea Resort, while the earthquake hit, I am on my honeymoon with my husband Juanga. I was lying in bed watching television when all of a sudden the bed started bouncing up and down i thought my husband was shaking the bed to frighten me.. So we jumped out of bed and went to the door way and held on tight, and the after shocks came one after another... But the resort handled the situation really well making sure all its guests were safe and ok. I'll never forget my honeymoon for sure. --Jackie Magdaleno (submitted on Oct. 16, 2006)

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