h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just my luck.

I am staying in a hotel in Istanbul, and I experienced the Earthquake last night.

I had just dropped off to sleep (somebody in reception had just contacted me by accident) when the shaking started. It lasted only 40 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. It was the strangest feeling - the earthquake vibrations were actually very low, maybe about 5 vibrations per second and with a relatively low amplitude. There didn't appear to be any rumble, like you hear in the movies. It wasn't so much the vibrations that scared me however, but the effect of those vibrations on the hotel itself. I am staying on the 6th floor of the hotel, so the room began to push backwards and forwards quite alarmingly. It was like being on board a ship, with all the walls, windows and supports creaking with the stresses. A number of smaller aftershocks hit us hourly for the rest of the night.

The buildings near where I am staying appear to be relatively unscathed. There are a number of new skyscrapers in the vicinity which did not seem to have been damaged in any way. I have seen the sights on TV and I cannot reconcile this devastation a few miles away to the view close to where I am. I did notice a lot of families looking for shelter with little more than a blanket to keep them warm later this evening.

This was my first experience of an earthquake (indeed this is my first time in Istanbul), and I would not be very keen on going through another experience like this.

I just feel very lucky. A lot of people died last night (2000+) in just 40 seconds. If what I felt was 100km away I cannot imagine what it would have been like in Ismet.