That was like a normal morning. No sign of dead silence in Banda Aceh city. All came with joy, people spent time on the beach and some of them slept like the dead. At 8.27, I was shaken by pumping of the earth reaction. My ankle was throbbing with pain and I had to get out to see what was really going on. I stood strong on the body road accompanied by the local people. One by one fell down. We were rocked by the demolished earthquake. We all scared. A few minutes the shake stopped, I thought it was not going to happen anymore. I prepared my self to go out to check the condition around. I overheard that there were some buildings already met the ground. This normal morning had turned into the shed of tear. What a broken morning!
Pagi terlihat seperti biasa. Tidak ada tanda kebisuan di kota Banda Aceh. Semua nampak bersukacita, orang-orang menghabiskan waktu di pantai dan beberapa orang tidur seperti orang mati. Sekitar pukul 8.27, bumi terguncang. Pergelangan kaki saya berdenyut karena sakit dan saya harus keluar untuk melihat apa yang sebenarnya sedang terjadi. Saya berdiri kokoh di badan jalan yang bersama masyarakat setempat. Satu per satu jatuh. Gempa semakin dahsyat. Ketakutan membalut jiwa kami. Beberapa menit goncangan berhenti, saya menyangka itu tidak akan terjadi lagi. Saya mempersiapkan diri untuk keluar guna memeriksa kondisi sekitar. Saya mendengar bahwa ada beberapa bangunan yang sudah runtuh. Pagi yang normal ini berubah menjadi gudang air mata.
Soon, I arrived at one of the coffee shops, I saw there were two police came to approach us who were gathering outside of the shop. They waved at us, I thought a storm was on the way to come but when I turned back, my eyes spot on huge wave climbing the square tower along with the earthquake that started shaking again. Oh God! This situation, I realize with an immediate sense of panic, was damn serious. Scrambling to rise, I nearly collapse in pain, my ankle crumpling beneath me and I managed to run as fast as I could. Searching the pathway that could lead me to the safe haven. While I was on the run, I witnessed the giant black wave swiped the buildings that stood along the way. It was about five hundred meters away from me. I managed to take a breath while whispering to myself, I was going to die...I was going to die, God saves me! People were screaming, louder and louder. I passed the rough path, climbed the wire fence while the clouds showed its furious. The wave thrashing the neighbor’s houses punching it into a wreck. The roar of the eerie, outrageous wave, creating damage to the once peaceful village, trees colliding with others sometimes crushing sheds and cars; the scary wave creating circles of water whipping up anything in its way.
Tak lama kemudian, saya sampai di salah satu kedai kopi, saya melihat ada dua polisi mendekati kami yang sedang berkumpul di luar toko. Mereka melambaikan tangan pada kami, saya mengira badai sedang menerjang, tapi ketika saya kembali, mataku menatap gelombang besar sedang menghampiri menara persegi bersamaan dengan gempa yang mulai bergetar lagi. Ya Tuhan! Situasi ini, aku mulai merasa panik, benar-benar panik. Aku berlari sambil secepat mungkin. Mencari jalur yang bisa membawaku ke tempat yang aman. Di saat aku berlari, aku menyaksikan gelombang hitam raksasa mengusap bangunan yang berdiri di sepanjang jalan. Jaraknya sekitar lima ratus meter dariku. Aku menarik napas sambil berbisik pada diriku sendiri, aku akan mati ... aku akan mati, Tuhan selamatkanlah aku! Orang-orang berteriak. Aku melewati jalan yang kasar, memanjat pagar kawat sementara awan menunjukkan kemarahannya. Gelombang memporak-porakdakan rumah penduduk. Deru ombak yang menakutkan itu, menciptakan kerusakan desa yang dulu damai,orang-orang bertabrakan, gudang dan mobil hancur berantakan; Gelombang menakutkan itu seperti lingkaran yang menghantam apa saja.
The earthquake stopped after some minutes and came up again in short duration. After two hours I managed to come back where I started running in the bright sun and passed through blackness water. The ruins left underneath, dead bodies were placed on the mattress and carried by their family.The broken properties wrecked, left nothing. Those building that I saw before had become a collective concrete within minutes, all the elevation and compression it has gained over centuries had gone. People were crying for their lost. I did not dare to see their sadness and the dead bodies laid on the pavement. That was terrible morning. The death toll and human suffering caused by the wave were unavoidable. It scoured everything down to bare earth, the resulting marine pollution was also devastating and could be observed from great distances. It left a large amount of debris: trees, building materials, vehicles, and containers.
Gempa berhenti dan setelah beberapa menit terjadi lagi dalam waktu yang singkat. Setelah dua jam aku berhasil kembali ke tempat dimana aku mulai berlari, berjalan di bawah sinar matahari yang cerah dan air yang perlahan mulai menghitam. Benda-benda tajam terserak di dalam air, yang kadangkala menggores telapak kakiku, mayat ditempatkan di kasur dan dibawa oleh keluarga mereka. Harta benda hancur, tidak meninggalkan apapun. Bangunan yang saya lihat sebelumnya telah menjadi tumpukan beton dalam beberapa menit, nyaris semua bangunan tak bisa difungsikan lagi, begitu juga dengan harta benda yang diperoleh selama bertahun-tahun lalu. Orang-orang menangis karena kehilangan keluarga mereka. Saya tidak berani melihat kesedihan dan mayat yang tergeletak di trotoar. Pagi itu mengerikan. Jumlah korban tewas dan penderitaan manusia yang disebabkan oleh gelombang tersebut diluar dugaan manusia.
After one hour I arrived at my place while the earthquake started shaking again, I and other people were panic and run again for the sea water would come up but it was just a panic issue. I came back to search for the food and clothes. Many stores were broken and left many foods to consume and I came to the outfitting store, the owner would never come back. I picked the clothes and shoes. I went to the monument baseline, took some rest while hearing the screaming of a mother who lost her children and the man with a broken belly. I faced to the sun that burned us on that day while seawater remained silent. It came back to normal state. I sighed while recalling this tragedy has just happened. Later on, I knew, this massive wave was called “Tsunami.”
Setelah satu jam saya tiba di rumah disusul dengan gempa yang mulai bergetar lagi, kami semua menjadi panik dan berlari, karena orang-orang berpikir air laut naik lagi. Setelah merasa aman, saya kembali mencari makanan dan pakaian. Banyak toko yang rusak meninggalkan banyak makanan, aku masuk ke toko perlengkapan, pemiliknya tidak akan pernah kembali lagi. Aku mengambil pakaian dan sepatu. Kemudian, aku pergi ke tugu, beristirahat sejenak sambil mendengar teriakan seorang ibu yang kehilangan anak-anaknya dan seorang anak mudah yang perutnya mengeluarkan isi dalam. Aku menghadap ke matahari yang membakar pada hari itu sementara air laut tetap diam. Laut kembali normal. Aku menghela napas sambil mengingat tragedi yang baru saja terjadi. Kemudian, saya tahu, gelombang besar ini disebut "Tsunami."
Note: I write this story based on what I witnessed how badly the tsunami hit Sumatra coastal area (Aceh, Indonesia). I was one of the survival of the tragedy that happened on December 26, 2004. I write this to refuse to forget about what happened 13 years ago.