The Cebu Tsunami Scare: A Case of the Boy Who Cried Wolf  

Posted by soreal


It was the afternoon of February 6th. Roughly an hour after my boyfriend dropped me off to work, he called asking me to check online if there’s any news that a tsunami was triggered by this morning’s earthquake. Apparently people on the street were already in great panic because a great tsunami was coming. I checked online and there was no warning or alert issued about an approaching killer wave.

It took over an hour for the hysteria to die down. I still get agitated thinking of the stampede that happened  at SM. My heart goes out to all those who got hurt on the street trying to find a safer place and those whose stuff got looted away by shameless individuals; all because they were busy running away from the nonexistent tsunami.

Like I posted on Facebook, “If there’s anything I learned from the tsunami scare, it’s that knowledge is power.”

This reminds me of the boy who cried wolf. Only in this case, we don’t know who cried tsunami and we probably never will.

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On the 6th of February.  

Posted by soreal


While applying mascara at around 11AM last Monday, the 6th of February, I felt my room shake. I initially thought it was the doing of a huge truck passing by the area. But it was impossible because my place isn’t near any road where a truck big enough to cause ground tremors can pass by.

When I realized what was going on, my insides started to cringe. I’ve never felt an earthquake of that magnitude before. It was so strong that I didn’t only feel the ground moving, I heard it too. It was the sound of big boulders being rubbed against each other.

I wasn’t all that scared because I felt secure where I was. I was in my room, on my bed. It’s a single-story structure inside a residential compound within the heart of Cebu, so there’s no real danger. I stayed calm despite the panicked shriek of the neighbor’s house help. If I were anywhere inside a big building though when it happened, I don’t think I’d be that composed.

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