Remembering 1990

Today marks the 23rd year of the 7.8M earthquake Luzon island in the Philippines in the afternoon of 16 July 1990. I was seven, in first grade, just a month in my new school (classes here start in June). Our class were dismissed and our group was the assigned cleaners of the day so we were left in the classroom by ourselves. We have been scrubbing the blackboard with glee, singing the song we learnt in Music class that day. Me and classmate, who I remember vividly, went to dust off the eraser when suddenly she stared at me and said calmly, "Gumagalaw ang lupa (The ground is moving.)." We were first graders so we do not know what exactly was happening, just the ground moving. After realising what that meant, we screamed and went inside our classroom, to our classmates, nearby until the teacher of the morning session possibly heard us, as the Faculty Room were a few feet from our classroom, went to us to calm us down and told us exactly what happened. Our class adviser, who was pregnant at the time, were overseeing our other classmates who were waiting for their rides home.

My sister was six, at home, and was taking her afternoon nap so she didn't feel a thing. My grandma contemplated on waking her up but thought better. My mum was at her office.

Metro Manila magnitude must have been between 5.5 - 6.0. Epicentre was placed at Rizal, Nueva Ecija, a few hours away from the country's capital.

Power was gone for several days. School was out for several days. There were continued aftershocks. In the end, 1 621 people lost their lives. Today, we remember them.

Hyatt Hotel in Baguio City