11.50 a.m. It was a normal KI (Knowledge and Inquiry) class (wait...are KI classes normal? Anyway...), we were discussing about political issues and how some of the ideologies we have learnt can be related to it, and suddenly there were tremors, I didn't think it was an earthquake at first, the room was shaking and I thought I was dizzy or something, my neighbour thought I was shaking, and about a few seconds later, we finally realised that it was an earthquake, my estimates put it at about 3 on the richter scale, and so after discussing about the earthquake, we settled down again.
11.55 a.m., we were told that there was an emergency evacuation and we packed our stuff up and we left quickly. We headed to the field and into the blazing hot afternoon sun, while the rest of the college joined us in the heat.
12.00 p.m. We lined up at our usual assembly spot and we had our attendence taken while we chatted excitedly about the earthquake and how it felt, the principal came out and informed us that there were unconfirmed reports that there had been an earthquake in Indonesia. However, no one was available to confirm the report and we were told to wait for another 10 minutes until the safety of the building and the intensity of the quake can be confirmed.
12.18 p.m. We were told to go back to normal classes and we all left. KI continued and so it was...
1.50 p.m. It was Maths tutorial and we just got our Vectors Test Paper back. The teacher was writing the solutions on the whiteboard when a second wave of tremors hit us. We ran out of the classroom again, nothing unfamiliar, we knew and so we headed once again to the field and waited for further instructions. On the way to the field, we noticed that the Channel News Asia reporters had come and they were filming us. Not getting overly excited about it, we walked to the muddy field, and waited, and to take our attendance again.
2.20 p.m. We were dismissed from college while the people had to check to see if there are any structural damage to the building. We all went back to the hostel, wondering whether another tremor is coming...
The chronology of events stated above is a brief recollection of the incidents that happened today in college when two waves of tremors hit Singapore, there was mass evacuation, and very much confusion. The epicentre of the earthquake was at Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia where a 6.6 Magnitude earthquke struck this southern Sumatran Province, Singapore and Malaysia which are about 430 km north-east of the epicentre experienced mild tremors , which shook building and disrupted businesses. The following is the full report taken from channelnewsasia.com
Singapore's Meteorological Services Division said an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale struck Padang, Indonesia at about 11.50am on Tuesday. A second round of tremors was felt in Singapore at around 1.50pm. The epicentre of the quake was 50 kilometres north-northeast of Padang, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and some 430 kilometres south-west of Singapore. Tremors were felt in many parts of Singapore. Callers to the MediaCorp News Hotline said they felt tremors in areas such as Beach Road, Jalan Besar, Robinson Road, Shunfu and Toa Payoh. Some buildings, like the Concourse at Beach Road, Capital Square and Centennial Tower in the city, and even Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Clementi, were evacuated. Witnesses said several tall buildings in the central business district swayed slightly. Traders said there was little or no impact on financial markets trading.
A second round of tremors have been felt in Singapore.
Callers to the MediaCorp News hotline said they felt the tremors again at around 1.50pm.
This came just two hours after the first tremors were reported at about 11.50am.
The calls had come from various parts of the island including Ang Mo Kio, Aljunied, Circuit Rd, Choa Chu Kang, Serangoon, Admiralty, Woodlands and Whampoa.
One caller from Aljunied area reported feeling the tremors twice - once on 11.48am and another one at 1.53pm.
And the following shows the positon of the epicentre realtive to Singapore and Malaysia...
That 's all for now, other than unconfirmed reports that at least 9 people have died in Sumatra. We pray for all those people who have lost a loved one or their belongings in the quake, in this solemn note, i shall pen off...
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