By Dennis Legaspi
Filipino expatriates living in Jakarta shared on social media their experiences during Friday night’s intensity 6.9 earthquake that hit Indonesia.
A villager looks for her belongings at her damage house in Pandeglang, Banten province on August 3, 2019, after a strong earthquake hit the area. - Indonesian authorities lifted a tsunami warning after a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake earlier struck off the southern coast of heavily populated Java island. (Photo by SAMMY / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Noreen Flores, formerly of Antara News Agency, posted on Facebook that the quake felt like intensity 7.4. She told her friend, Angela Dimalanta in a comment, “7.4 man diay gani. Was at the basement grocery shopping for dinner food. I felt it instantly. So I abandoned the grocery trolley. Was with my funny friend. While rushing towards the lobby, she still inquired about the price of the living room set displayed in the mall.”
Flores said that she had to be calmed down by her sons who kept telling her that the earthquake was over. One son made her a hot chocolate drink and the other went out to get roast chicken for dinner. Flores said she had to abandon her grocery cart, to which another FB Friend replied said, “you should have grabbed something for dinner as no one is stopping anyone anyway” as people scampered out of the building.
Other Pinoy expats rushed home to be with their loved ones. Many of them posted their thanks to the Almighty for keeping their kids and other family members safe in designated assembly areas. Most of the Jakartans followed the prescribed evacuation method.
The earthquake struck while Mark and Kathy Castro were walking near their residence. Kathy, formerly of CNN, said they are now experiencing total blackout in Jakarta.
Five people died and several were injured after a powerful undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia's heavily populated Java island, triggering a brief tsunami warning.