Devin's+Story

A real life account of an earthquake The Westford earthquake: Date: 12/17/10 Location: Westford MA USA, 42.579167 N, 71.438333 W Magnitude (Richter): 9.9 Property Damage (In Billions): 4.2463

It was a cold, dark and stormy December morning when suddenly I awoke. At first I did not realize why I awoke, though I later realized that this must have been the P wave arriving. Then suddenly the S waves arrived with a jolt and a crash as the plates and glasses on the kitchen counter fell and shattered. "Who's there? my dad called. Then there was another rumble but this time instead of hearing it I //felt// it. "EARTHQUAKE!" I yelled as the first surface wavesrocked the house. Things happened very quickly now, and with a loud "crack" I felt myself falling, another rumble made me look up as the ceiling fell, darkness rushed down to meet me and I descended into unconsciousness. When I awoke it was pitch black in the distance I could hear yelling and sirens. I tried to move but my leg was stuck and the pain overwhelmed me, once more I sunk into unconsciousness. I awoke intermittently and could occasionally hear work in the nearby. Sometimes I would say something and when I did the reply was always the same, "we're coming". Finally, after what may have been days I felt hands pulling me out of the wreckage and rushing me to a nearby ambulance one last time my thoughts dissolved into darkness. When I awoke in the hospital I had an IV in each arm and the Electrocardiograph monitor screens surrounding me when the nurse sees that I am awake she comes in and asks me how I feel and I reply that I feel like a house fell on me, she laughs and tells me that one did. Now I am thoroughly confused and I decide that it's time to figure out what happened, so I ask, "What happened?" "There was a large earthquake near your house." "How close?" I croaked, "how large?" "Its epicenter was only a mile from your house and our seismograph registered a magnitude 9.9 on the Richter scale, you're lucky to even be alive." "Where's my mom? Or my dad?" I cried desperately. "Don't worry they're both alive and are doing much better than you are. Now you need to get some rest I'll be back soon" "Wait," I cry "where's Fin" "Umm I, I need, I need to go" she stammers and then practically runs out of the room I decide to follow her advice though I am troubled by her reaction to me asking about Fin, and so I peacefully drift to sleep. When I wake up my mom is sitting next to me with a cast on her "Mom!" <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">"Hi sweetie how are you?" <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">"Good but where's Fin" <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">"Oh Devin he didn't survive." "What?" "He's" dead. She says as she dissolves into tears. "Oh no" I say, unconsciousness was immediate. I wake up later and after a few days I leave the hospital, we return to our house or maybe I should say our giant pile of really big toothpicks and crushed computers since that's all that was left. Always the comedian I manage to croak out: “I told you we should have gotten a base isolated house" - End of account  media type="youtube" key="4dNtqjgkCts?rel=0" height="315" width="420"