Post Iran Earthquake -- we are okay!

Hi everyone.

Yup, the earthquake was felt here (7.8 magnitude in Iran, near the Pakistan border).
Yup, I am fine, as is my brother, sister in law and nephew.

Now, I have to admit, everyone seems to have felt the earthquake except me!

I was in someone else's office at that moment.  I was about to do mock interviews with students graduating from Fatima College of Health Sciences' nursing program (we of Al Rowdah are housed in Fatima College).  The only reason I can think of as to why I didn't notice the earthquake was I was moving a desk chair and small table, readying for the interviews.  A ball did fall off the window sill, and I thought it was odd because I hadn't touched it, but didn't think twice about it.   

And perhaps because I was near the center of the building and on the ground floor?

I knew something was different when I heard very loud male voices (usually you just hear the many voices of young female college students!), and a faint alarm in the background.  (Nothing as loud as the alarms in most of our Orange Coast College buildings back home!).  And then someone I know saw me and said "come, you must leave the building now".

Not until I was outside with folks did I found out about the earthquake.

At least it wasn't raining (it has done so recently, surprisingly), and it wasn't August and 130 degrees.  Only 97 degrees at 3 p.m. today.  Toasty roasty in the sun, as of course we needed to stay away from the shade of the building and parking space umbrellas.  Fatima College is a three-story building, with some outside structures that REALLY capture your attention when you've been evacuated due to an earthquake!

This was the first earthquake for many of the people I was standing with.  They wondered what security was checking inside, and I explained most likely any gas leaks (we have labs for the allied health programs, as well as a canteen -- aka cafeteria), and for anything that had fallen and could hurt someone.  Several of the female students joked about going in last, to see if we staff were okay going in first ... don't blame them.  And the facilities director stood guard in front of the elevator, so it wouldn't be used for awhile.

Note to self ... always take your purse with you when you wander through the building or have a meeting in another office, in case you cannot get back in at all, or need to stand outside in the sun (ie sunglasses!) ... never occurred to me we'd have any large earthquakes in the UAE.  Then you look at earthquake websites and see just how many are going on, around the world, every day. Yikes.

Oh -- we are rescheduling the students' mock interviews for tomorrow or Thursday.  Figured it would be hard for them to focus after that, especially if there were any after shocks.  (If there have been those, I haven't felt them either!)

Prayers for those in Iran and Pakistan who were hurt by this ... CNN is saying there are quite a few casualties.  And prayers for Boston ...