The earthquake began around eight in the morning as a curious rumble. Soon the house swam and the walls swayed. Our reaction was to scoop up the baby and the dog and get out. Leaving the house might or might not have been the proper thing to do but after Shi-wen declared “Earthquake!” neither of us opted to wait under the dining room table to see if the ceiling held out. Instead we rushed outside with the rest of the neighborhood and waited.
It reminded me of the moments after childbirth where everyone’s slopping around in slippers and pajamas looking a bit whiplashed and trying to call the relatives. People were dressed for early Saturday morning but cell phones were pressed to their ears instead of pillows.
For our neighbors, the date of the quake recalled a far deadlier earthquake just five years earlier. In that quake, which occurred just 50-some miles from this one, 90,000 people died or went missing.
News passed quickly through the pajamaed crowd as everyone milled around and tried to reach friends and family. The magnitude was 7. The epicenter was in Lu Shan County in Ya'an, about 70 miles southwest of Chengdu. The foreigners (meaning us) have a baby and a dog.
For our neighbors, the date of the quake recalled a far deadlier earthquake just five years earlier. In that quake, which occurred just 50-some miles from this one, 90,000 people died or went missing.
News passed quickly through the pajamaed crowd as everyone milled around and tried to reach friends and family. The magnitude was 7. The epicenter was in Lu Shan County in Ya'an, about 70 miles southwest of Chengdu. The foreigners (meaning us) have a baby and a dog.
In this quake, Chengdu at large was spared serious harm although nearly 200 people were killed elsewhere. Just hours after the quake the city was back to business as usual. The aftershocks, however, went on for several days; when we thought we felt shaking, but couldn't be sure, we’d look to our gently rocking chandelier for confirmation.
On the day of the quake there was one person we didn’t get to meet from the neighborhood: a middle-aged man in pink pajamas who was walking circles near the swing set. As for recognizing him now - without his pajamas - I’m not optimistic. I’m probably as likely to be able to find him in a crowd as I’d be in identifying one of the ladies from my childbirth class without her giant belly.
In the midst of life’s big shifts every detail is vivid and sharp and unforgettable. But soon the rumble of trucks no longer makes you think the ground is shuddering and the pain of childbirth becomes harder and harder to explain.
It’s this gentle-ing of memories that lets you sleep soundly in a house where the walls once shook. Not that we’re sleeping much. Earthquakes may eventually stop their shaking but the roar of an infant feels like forever.
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