My family’s experiences during the worst tragedy that has ever befallen my hometown, the city of Pagadian. At around 12:11 AM of August 17, 1976, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Moro Gulf and had triggered a series of tsunamis in many parts of Mindanao including our city, claiming thousands of lives.
Then around 4 to 5 in the morning, my parents decided that it’s time for us to go back to the house. My parents, like most of the people who left their homes in frenzy, were anxious for leaving our house open. Actually their main concern then was the possibility of thieves entering our house, as we had no idea of the devastation that had transpired during our escape.
Many people decided to go home too. So we went on another exodus that morning of Aug. 17, 1976. This time though, in a more relaxed pace, but with a sense of anxiety, fatigue and drowsiness.
But nothing could have prepared us for what lay before us upon arriving at our place. The scenes and the events of that fateful early morning would forever stay in my memory. When we came to our place which belongs to the lowest ground level of the city’s mountainous terrain, we found ourselves wading through knee-deep muddy water (thigh-high for me then). It was as if our place had become a swamp dotted with numerous houses all around. Fish were even hopping under and around our house – a fact I so enjoyed then unknowing yet of the catastrophe that we had just escaped.
Good thing that the floor of our house was about four feet above the ground so the water did not reach it. The house posts indicated that the maximum water level at our place was but less than a foot below our floor.
Although all of us were safe, our dog had lost all her nursing puppies as they were left on their makeshift kennel on the ground. She herself was spared, as she was on the porch when we got home. Maybe she went upstairs and lay on the porch when it started to drizzle, as she usually did; and when the water came, she had no choice but to stay on the porch.
Then my father decided to look and to ask around for some information as to what happened that night. My eldest brother went with him too. And when they came back, they were filled with disbelief as they narrated to us what they learned. We were all stunned when they told us that a lot of people perished while we were running for safety the previous night.
My father said that there had been a series of tidal waves that rose from the sea and that dead people littered our surroundings. According to him, most of our neighbors’ yards harbored dead bodies of both animals and people. He further said that our school building was pushed off the ground and that our school plaza was littered with small boats and houses that were displaced by the tidal waves.
hi melody,
i’m from a television station in manila. i was wondering where you live right now? i hope you can email me back at josephthaddeus@gmail.com 
Welcome to Authspot, the spot for creative writing.
Read some stories and poems, and be sure to subscribe to our feed!
