Story time: That one time I survived an Earthquake! (Part 1)

It’s not everyday you hear about people surviving earthquakes. There’s probably an even smaller percentage who can say that they were stranded on an island and had to fight their way off to get to safety…I know what you’re thinking and yes, it really was as bad as it sounds! Life was a little mad at that moment BUT I survived and I’m here to tell my story…

Gili T, Indonesia: The calm before the storm…

I have to say, this earthquake experience has to be up there with one of my craziest experiences. I’m still deciding if it’s in the top two which makes it sound nuts but I’ve survived some pretty crazy things so far in life. At this point, I just have to accept that I have more lives than a cat (side note: I don’t even like cats!) and you never know what’s going to happen next! I guess we can call it character building and it makes a good story afterward, but in all honesty, I’m very lucky that someone is looking out for me up there because they’ve really had my back despite my nonsense!

For those of you who knew me a year ago, you would have remembered when I was travelling last summer through Thailand and Indonesia. The trip had gone pretty well up to this point and the whole “winging-it” attitude was really working out for me. Up to then, I had explored all of Thailand and was going to fly to Indonesia as planned but typical Liz didn’t book the flights in advance (will I ever change?). This was mainly because I didn’t know where I’d be or how long I wanted to stay in Thailand and I didn’t want to be restricted. I had a rough idea on dates but it was pretty flexible… after all, I was travelling.

My girl who had gone before told me that flights were cheap so I told myself not to stress about flights until I knew when I wanted to go. Let me tell you now: one week’s notice probably wasn’t enough time in hindsight as I was seeing flights for double what my friend had quoted (unnecessary cash loss is not the one when you’re travelling on the other side of the world… alone!). For that reason, and my straight-up refusal to spend more than necessary, I tried my utmost to get the prices down. I had planned to fly to Bali first, then Lombok but for some reason, the prices were still a madness for the dates I had picked! I finally managed to book a flight and managed to cut the original price by £100 which wasn’t bad but it meant that I had to fly to Lombok first because flights to Bali were looking impossible. This wasn’t an issue since I was planning to go to Lombok anyway, it just meant that I had to reshuffle my plan a little - minor!

I had heard of a fairly strong earthquake (maybe magnitude 5 or 6?) and a volcano eruption in Bali a few weeks before I had arrived, but since the earthquake was a fairly high magnitude, I didn’t think it was going to happen again. Besides, one of my friends was in Bali during that first earthquake and she seemed ok after the initial shock. In fact, we were laughing about how her bed was flying across the room an hour later (although everyone else seemed to be scared… we just came to the conclusion that we must be mad!) My theory was that if she could handle it, I was sure (in the small chance of it happening again) I’d be fine. This should have been my first red flag but I was way too determined to go to Indonesia to deep the signs.

The Warnings

Before I get into the story I just wanted to mention something…I don’t know if you’re religious or spiritual (or neither) but do you ever feel like sometimes we get multiple signs to warn us of danger? Say for example you’ve been planning to go somewhere but somehow there are hurdles that interrupt your journey which either make you super late or force you to cancel, only to find out later that you dodged a bullet or something bad happened where you were planning to be. Does that ring a bell? I say this because in these situations most of us don’t look at the bigger picture, and we often let them irritate us more instead of taking a step back. In that state we overlook all the signs and put them down to inconvenience at the time, only to appreciate it later.

An example of this was when I was planning to book my flight from Lombok to Bali because I wanted to go. Believe me, I tried to book the flight but for some reason every time I tried, it would get to the payment screen and then fail. I tried a few times with no luck and that’s where it should have ended… not with me! I persevered and got out my phone to try and book. No luck! Then I got my tablet… When I had tried all my devices and they had all failed ask me if I stopped? I asked to borrow someone’s computer and it failed again (for real I have no shame!). I tried not one, not two, but three cards and on the 10th try failing (I kid you not) I finally managed to book the flight. In hindsight, that’s a lot of attempts and it was probably a warning to cut that part of my trip short. My determination and perseverance, on the other hand, had different plans…

In hindsight… It was a warning to cut that part of my trip short

Once I had landed in Lombok and accepted that I would have to do a week there first before flying to Bali, I wasn’t even thinking about earthquakes. Firstly, I had not felt any since I had arrived and it seemed that I was on the safer side of Indonesia as Lombok didn’t really feel the impact the time before. Second, the Volcano that had erupted in Bali was not near me either! Despite this reassurance, I wanted to cover all bases. When doing my usual “bearings walk” I asked the locals and my hotel staff about the situation. People mentioned it but didn’t seem too concerned at all. A few tourists at the Tiki bar I went to the night after said they had felt a few earthquakes and it was a little scary. From my point of view, I had been on the island and not felt any of the earthquakes they were talking about. I know this sounds a little crazy but I kind of wanted to experience one for the first time. By the sounds of it from their accounts, the ground shook a little but it was not enough to make anyone fall. Now I’m not stupid, I know these things can be lethal (and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone) but a small part of me just wanted to experience a tinnnnnyyy one.

Near the end of my stay in Lombok (after not feeling one earthquake despite what others said) I met a middle-aged man in a cafe. He was from Canada and we got chatting about the last earthquake and what we thought would happen next. He had been there when the last one hit and told me that the local foreseers (or people like that) had warned everyone of another, bigger earthquake the next week. The news outlets had not reported any concerns or risks and so locals put it down to scaremongering.

I was told that the likelihood of another earthquake higher than the one before was something silly like 1 or 2%. I could be wrong but that was what I was told and the chances of another were very slim. I don’t think I was actually taking it seriously enough and IF we were to be hit by an earthquake, I expected it to be very mild. Regardless, I had downloaded an earthquake app to monitor the earthquakes daily (even if I couldn’t feel them) and assess the situation myself. I also researched heavily into earthquakes to brush up on my knowledge and be prepared. This should have been another red flag.

After not much thought, I decided to spend my last 4 days on the Gili Islands. For anyone who has never heard of these, they are three islands not far from Lombok that is famous amongst tourists (I’m talking about the place with the swing in the water that you see in insta posts) and each island has its reputation. They’re named Gili Air, Gili Meno and the furthest out is Gili Trawangan (also known as Gili T). The only way to get there is by boat, (or helicopter if you’re caked like that) of which there are multiple routes even from Bali. The problem is, during this period the boats from Bali had been cancelled for a few weeks as the waters were too rough to safely operate. This is usually a busy route as the majority of the tourists come from Bali directly. This meant that the island was quieter than usual as many couldn’t go unless they were already on the sides I was on (even my friend couldn’t go).

Again, alarm bells should have rung but there were still a good amount of people on my sides and the Gili islands were a location not to miss. I took the one or two hr drive to the port and waited for my ticket. My original plan was to do a day on each island starting with Gili Air (the closest one) but since there were fewer people now, I was told Gili T was the biggest and more of a “party island” so it was better if I wanted character and presence. Gili Meno is popular for the honeymooners and I wasn’t trying to be around couples all day long, especially if I was on my own. As a last-minute change of plan, I decided to start on Gili T (the furthest) and check that out. I could always pay a boat to hop over to the other islands as planned but this was going to be the best place to start.

Standard bikes you can hire on the island

The journey took about 20/30 mins on the boat and the sea was a little rough. When I landed on the island I hadn’t booked any accommodation so I was going to check out the prices directly since I knew it wasn’t going to be super busy. On the other side, we were met with many people hiring bikes or horse rides to get around the island (the only way to get around these islands is by foot, horse and carriage or bike since they’re pretty small). There were also locals selling accommodation and they gathered near the dock to try and sell a room.

My plan was to walk to some of the hotels and book or find a good deal on my hotel apps but a man came forward to me and something in me told me to give him a chance. I negotiated a price with him and he took me to my apartment in a built-up area of the island. This was a street or two away from the massive mosque and down a side road. It was a little complicated to remember its exact location but I was happy with it and only planned to stay one night before going to another island the next day.

That day I spent time on the beach and enjoyed the scenery and beauty of the island. I went for a swim, played volleyball and had a little walk around the island. It was truly blissful and magical. I had planned to hire a bike but didn’t have enough time so decided to stay on foot that day. In the evening I forced myself to go out and see the nightlife so I went back to my apartment to change. That evening I went to a reggae bar (every country loves reggae bars) and enjoyed live performances and cocktails (you know me). Following that, I went to a shisha spot that looked super cute and drank some more and face-timed my loved ones. Things were looking good and I was glad I had decided to travel to Indonesia. I went back that evening and everything seemed dandyyyyyy! I was really enjoying (no, the earthquake didn’t hit that night)!

In the morning I was due to leave the island. For some reason, I told the dude that I wanted to extend my stay by an extra night and asked if I could hire a bike. The thing is, since Thailand I had been hopping around day by day and had been ACTIVE! This was my opportunity to just chill and enjoy the scene so I decided to do an extra night on Gili T. Since I had four days dedicated to the islands before my flight, I planned to do a night on the other two islands for my remaining days. I spent most of the day on the beach and came back to change into something more appropriate. I decided to wear a dress and left the apartment. I’m not sure why, but just as I was about to cycle off, I decided to put on cycling shorts underneath and a headscarf to wrap my hair. I cycled around during the afternoon and actually bumped into the gentleman from Lombok who also seemed to have made his way onto the same island despite our chat in the cafe a few days prior. He was also on a bike and told me that there were sunset bars at the end of the island which took maybe 20 mins or more to cycle to but that it was the best place to watch the sunset (and they also played live music there too). I had already heard people talk about the sunset bars and wanted to check it out.

AND THEN IN HIT…

I skipped dinner that night (or maybe I just got some street food) and headed over to the sunset bars by bike. On this side of the island, there aren’t any buildings and it’s just a load of bars on the beach by low-rising water. Here is where you’ll find the famous swing on the water and of course I got someone to take a few pictures (even if they weren’t great… but can I complain?). I found a bar I liked, chained my bike to the rack and ordered cocktails and nachos whilst I watched the sun go down to live music and nice bar staff. As usual, I called my peoples in England since it was evening where I was and I was hours ahead. I must have watched the sunset go down and stayed but everyone had left the beach and had returned home. I had been face-timing for hours in my own little world, updating my one about life and my day as usual so I didn’t notice people go. The bar staff didn’t seem to mind that I was the only one left and it had got pretty dark. I’m not even sure why I stayed out but I had simply lost track of time in my call and my girls’ group chat was also popping off so I had enough entertainment for the night.

During my call, I felt a little rumble under my feet but I thought I was bugging. I remember joking “I think I’m finally in an earthquake!” (lmao I know… tapped) and thought that was it. LOOOOL I can laugh now because it’s over but imagine we started shaking and my jokes suddenly turned to fear when I was literally thrown off my beanie (bear in mind I was already pretty much on the floor so it had to be strong to throw me off). The earth just rocked us like we were peanuts in a jar and I remember saying “oh sh*t oh SH*T !” as it became more violent. In that split second the phone cut and all the lights cut on the island. THINGS JUST GOT REAL REALLY QUICK! Nah, on my life I was shook.

I’m a grown girl but I was alone and all of a sudden I couldn’t see. IT WAS PITCH BLACK! That’s not even the reason I was scared. This shake (which lasted maybe 30 seconds or more - I didn’t even know that was long) was so violent that everything had cut in a second, including ATM’s. I told you I was alone and the only people on the beach with me were staff, right? Imagine I looked back to see what everyone was doing and they looked more scared than me. For a country that is used to earthquakes - because it falls in the ring of fire - the local reaction showed me that this was far from normal. People were screaming and shrieking and pointing and crying. The staff were SCATTERING and I had no clue where I was on the island. I couldn’t even understand what they were saying but they were panicking. A woman had come crying and shouting and pointed to the rocks behind us screaming “the mountain”. My dumb self thought this meant that the earthquake came from the mountain (leave me) and my first thought was “I’m definitely not going up there in these conditions!” Although there were no buildings on this side of the island, there were high rocks and cliff edges all around us and things were falling now… I know!

At this point, adrenaline had well and truly kicked in and I was in flight or fight mode. I ran to my bike but people had left theirs so I started to run after the others in fear (honestly I write this with a little PTSD kicking in) and I was just following. About 100 m into my run I thought “ NAH F THIS I HAVE A BIKE” and ran back to where I had locked it. Boy oh boy, bikes had fallen over and I struggled to identify mine, using my phone torch to see. Rocks were falling and I was scared I might not make it back to the other side since they were falling fast.

I finally found my bike but one of the barmen had spotted me run back and asked me if I was ok and what I was doing (bless him). I found my bike but in all the drama I couldn’t remember the code (THIS WAS NOT THE TIME!) and I was rapidly trying to find a picture of it on my phone. When I tell you that my hand was TREMBLING… could I even unlock the bike? I felt like I was running against time and who knew when the next earthquake was going to hit. I had no signal, my phone battery was low, I was alone and there was chaos all around me. Things seemed uncertain.

I finally managed to unlock my bike and rode FOR MY LIFE back towards the main strip (remember it’s a 20 min ride). In that time I was trying to use my phone to navigate and not drive over any rocks or be hit by rocks too since they were on the floor. There were a few archways along the route and any time I had to ride under I prayed it didn’t collapse on my head. People were running forwards and backward and everyone was scattered, not knowing where to go. Honestly, it was chaos! I remember I got a call back (it probably sounded mad on the other side of the phone in all fairness) and I had to hang up to save battery and keep my light steady. Every second counted and I wasn’t about to be konked on the head by a falling rock for a phone call, even if it was in my interest. I sent a few voice notes explaining that I was ok but looking for a safe place and even listening back to them now gives me chills. You can actually hear me cycling so fast that there’s wind whilst I’m trying to sound composed but the adrenaline and fear is evident in my voice. In the back of my mind, I was telling myself to keep cycling until I saw someone but I couldn’t stop for long and feared that I might still be cycling when another earthquake hit. I saw one of the musicians from the beach cycling in the same direction and asked him where I should go. He told me not to follow him because he was going back to look for his girlfriend and prayed that she was still alive. I’ll never forget the fear in his eyes and at that moment I realised how real it was and deeped that there was a possibility of this being it for me….

Read part 2 here

Liz x

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