We had an intense bout with Mother Nature last night! Around 5PM (Sunday), the clouds started rolling in and a raging thunderstorm followed shortly after. Sheets of rain, high winds, frequent lightning strikes (although none at our base, thankfully). It was fun for a while -- it hadn't rained here in Leogane for at least a week & it brought the temperature down quite a bit. Broke out the soap and took a shower that didn't involve a bucket! This storm lasted for about an hour. Some tents got a bit wet and a couple blew over, but no major problems.
The real fun happened during the
middle of the night. I woke up randomly around 12:30 AM, probably due to the confused roosters which like to start crowing in the middle of the night. A few minutes later, the ground began to shake -- an earthquake! It lasted only a couple of seconds. It was a strange rolling sensation accompanied by a huge deep rumble. A moment after, people at our base began shouting "Quake!" (safety procedure) and several started screaming in fear. This was actually a bit scarier than the quake itself. I sleep in a tent on the roof, so I made my way downstairs to the courtyard where we're supposed to congregate in such an instance -- there's no roof above it, and it's easily accessible from all points on base. A few people had been slightly injured -- small cuts & twisted ankles -- from tripping over stuff while running to the courtyard, but luckily there were no major quake-related injuries or damage to the base.
Turns out this was a 4.0 on the Richter scale, and I was told that there was a 4.1 quake this afternoon. Somehow I didn't notice this one at all.
This quake lasted only a couple seconds at the very most; I can't imagine being in one that lasts 37 seconds.
badass. didn't even notice the 4.1 quake.