In retrospect, this earth tremor was probably something folks in Japan or California would pooh-pooh but it was a big deal for someone who had never experienced anything like it (e.g. yours truly). I mean, the greatest natural disasters I experienced prior to this were during my younger years when I couldn’t go out to play because it was raining.

According to CNN and online reports, a tsunami is expected. I very much doubt anything would occur in my area because we’re shielded by Sumatera. Still, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping much tonight. There could be aftershocks for one thing and besides, I’d like to keep myself updated on the situation.

Anyway, here are some quake-related links …

• BBC report.
• AP report from the New York Times.
• Jeff Ooi’s blog has some links to local reports.
• Malaysian police issue tsunami alert in Northern states.
• The MeFi thread has the usual snarky and sardonic comments but there are couple of links.

I experienced an earth tremor for the first time in my life earlier. Minor shakes aren’t uncommon in northern Malaysian states but this was a first for my area.

I thought I was imagining things when I started swaying and almost attributed it to a bout of dizziness but upon getting up from a chair, I was taken aback to see the pillow on the chair shaking. My family members confirmed they felt it too.

We got out of the house and started comparing notes with our neighbours. The whole neighbourhood was out and excitedly chattering. Nobody here had felt anything during the Indian Ocean quake so folks concluded this was either closer or bigger. A local blog aggregator is filling up with reports from local bloggers and apparently, some precautionary evacuations have taken place.

It appears there’s been a 8.2 near Western Sumatera. Oh, those poor, poor people over there. I hope they’re all right.