Earthquake Diary Entry
September 2nd, 1886
August 31, 1886, was one of the worst days in Charleston, that day we had a major earthquake of the likes of which I have never felt. The day started off as a nice calm day. My mom and I were reading a book and then all of a sudden I could hear this rumbling sound that seemed to come from inside earth. It started off as a gentle vibration then after a few minutes the noise and the vibrations became more violent. It was as if the earth had a terrible stomach ache. The shake got more violent after a few minutes pictures were thrown of the wall books flew of the shelves. People were screaming and the air smelt and tasted like dust. We hid under a chair but I forgot to blow out a candle I lit and it fell to the floor and the house caught on fire. Once we smelled the fire we went for the door but as soon as we were close to the door the fire spread right into our walkway. We were trapped with no were to go so we rushed back to our hiding place but before i could make it a hot metal pipe landed on my legs I was stuck the pipe broke my legs. The fire had subsided so we made out the house. My mom carried me to the hospital which luckily was still standing. By the time we got there the tremors had stopped. A few weeks later I lie awake in my hospital bed reading a newspaper the headlines stated, "Massive earthquake shakes Charleston- 96 people die and many more injured ". In two weeks I will be released from the hospital in a wheel chair but every night I will pray that we never have a earthquake again. I mourn with the families that lost their loved ones and I pray the people who lay hospital beds beside me will make a quick recovery and will be able to tell their stories of the horrible earthquake of
August 31, 1886, was one of the worst days in Charleston, that day we had a major earthquake of the likes of which I have never felt. The day started off as a nice calm day. My mom and I were reading a book and then all of a sudden I could hear this rumbling sound that seemed to come from inside earth. It started off as a gentle vibration then after a few minutes the noise and the vibrations became more violent. It was as if the earth had a terrible stomach ache. The shake got more violent after a few minutes pictures were thrown of the wall books flew of the shelves. People were screaming and the air smelt and tasted like dust. We hid under a chair but I forgot to blow out a candle I lit and it fell to the floor and the house caught on fire. Once we smelled the fire we went for the door but as soon as we were close to the door the fire spread right into our walkway. We were trapped with no were to go so we rushed back to our hiding place but before i could make it a hot metal pipe landed on my legs I was stuck the pipe broke my legs. The fire had subsided so we made out the house. My mom carried me to the hospital which luckily was still standing. By the time we got there the tremors had stopped. A few weeks later I lie awake in my hospital bed reading a newspaper the headlines stated, "Massive earthquake shakes Charleston- 96 people die and many more injured ". In two weeks I will be released from the hospital in a wheel chair but every night I will pray that we never have a earthquake again. I mourn with the families that lost their loved ones and I pray the people who lay hospital beds beside me will make a quick recovery and will be able to tell their stories of the horrible earthquake of