Earthquake in the Pressroom - Not Fun at All

As my crew members and I cleaned the printing press the earthquake rolled in, and for a moment we really didn’t know what was happening, until one of the men yelled out “EARTHQUAKE”.

The feeling of running to the safety of the outdoors was subdued as we stood in place looking at one another till the shaking passed. The super-structure of the printing presses is made from steel beams and steel floor plates, which magnified the sound as the floor plates jumped up and down during the wave of earth movement.

Paper dust that had collected in the ceiling panels over the last twenty years was raining down as well as the metal bells that cover the fire sprinklers, making running from the building a poor choice at the time.

What seemed like an eternity of forty seconds was but twenty seconds, as my perception of time became skewed during this stressful moment.

Just before the earthquake ceased I sent a txt message to Twitter, which somehow made it through, but after the quake ended my cell acted as if it were turned off.

After the earthquake we exited the building to the parking area, as we have been instructed, and tried in vain to contact our loved ones.

For you folks that have not experienced an earthquake, let me tell you, it’s not something I would recommend trying, because you are absolutely helpless.