I went home after a tiring day from school then helped my parents afterward at our small barbecue business. Then assisted my kids with their assignments and I studied my own school lessons as a preparation for our quizz the next day. But who would have thought at exactly 9:59 in the evening as I was reading my notes lying face down on our bed, I felt a little ground shaking for seconds,me and my son stared at each other but we neglected it and continue what we are doing,I thought it will not intensified,then suddenly the little shaking became violent and destructive, but we never tried to stand up, we waited for the shaking to stop.It stopped for a second then the ground shaked again violently and the electricity went out but the shaking is not over yet, before the electricity went out I saw our drawer flied near us,luckily we never hit by it. As the ground calmed a little bit, I turned my phone's flashlight and lighted our way out,dragging my two kids and my live in partner. I shouted my parents to get out and we will seek safety at the roadside. Our house even if it was made by light materials was in a mess,our things scattered everywhere. My bother out of nervousness and with no lights, jumped to us and got wounded on the shattered glass out of nowhere and he was bleeding.
I saw our barbecue laid on the ground because our refrigerator knocked on the ground. So I tried to picked it all and put in inside hurriedly because it was the only source of income for my parents.I shouted my kids and husband to run first and I will come after them but my partner in life don't want to leave me behind. As I was almost finish picking all the barbecue the ground shaked again furiously so I just leave the barbecue because he dragged me out.As I was running, the bird, I don't know what specie it was, landed on my head , for sure it was scared also and don't know where to find safety and coincidentally it landed on my head.
As we are running, the house of my late grandmother collapsed,it was made of bricks but luckily it was on the other side not the side were we are passing. Imagine this as ground shaking furiously and our way out there were two walls made with bricks ( my late grandma's house and the saversmart in our barangay) and we are in the middle passing by. We cannot just stay outside our house because we are living near a cliff and we got scared it might collapse.
As we reached the road side, we saw our neighbors there, sitting on the road with frightened faces and voices. Everytime the ground shakes,both of my parents and some of my older neighbors shouted "buwa" many times, as if they are shooing something beneath the ground.We imitated them, even my kids shouted buwa too.This kind of belief was passed unto the new generation because of the earthquake.
I thought it was the end of the world,I never joked about it. In my 32 years of existence, it was my first time to experience that kind of intensity. I experienced earthquakes beforehand but not that quite strong, that it lasts for many hours. My mom kneeled and shouted "Lord help us, please stop the earthquake" with tears on her eyes, everyone was praying. I noticed my mom was having a minor attack , because her blood pressure is high and she suffered from stroke before so I hurriedly get her medicine and she took it so as my father and brother. I told my mom not to panic and it was just normal just to calm her, but even myself was scared and don't know if it was still normal. My kids are crying, so as everyone around and I hugged them along with my husband as I was repenting with my sins and telling them I love you.
The shaking calmed a little bit, just a little, but still it continued shaking. We stayed beside the road and there the patrol team, keep on sirening telling us to flee outside our home for safety, and they brought a first aid kit and treating those who got wounded including my brother. After many hours of ground shaking suddenly it rained heavenly. We got soaked in the rain, our barbecue stall is just small and there are lots of people fleeing there.
We never slept,we waited for the sun to shine to checked our homes. When the daylight came, we saw our house wrecked. Lots of our things scattered everywhere.
My father was picking his things outside.
This was the inside of our house looks like after.
Because of the earthquake and the continues groundshaking, we felt our home is not safe for us. Eventually it was not after all, because our house nearly collapse and lots of wood is broken. So we sheltered in the open space on our public market as our temporary home. Until now we are sleeping in tents because we don't have the capacity to build our home again,we lack of money.
Septeber 30, 2025 at exactly 9:59 pm ,was the day most of us will never forget. That night, many lives were lost, many homes were ruined and where all our trauma begins. This sad event, I don't want to happen or experienced again. But earthquake is unavoidable, it may happen anywhere,anytime without notice.Everyday, lots of earthquakes is happening around the world some of it we can't feel because it may be too deep or too weak to felt by us.Especially,in our place like us, the Philippines where we sit on the ring of fire, earthquake is normal. But what is not normal is that, in case like this, we are not always prepared.So this is the time that we should prepare, like an emergency kit bag with flashlights, water , food, whistle and the like. And more importantly to prepare ourselves in cases like this, what to do, where to go and more.