The Pinatubo

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The Pinatubo

It was a day in 1991, a typical day. My mother is forcing me to study my assignments on my baby blue study table while my little sister is riding the ceramic elephant lamp like a bull rider when we felt the strong earthquake.

Our mother immediately grabbed me and my sister and we were at our front door of our condominium unit. She leaned at the aluminum screendoor while she was holding both her children. As the shaking grew stronger, mother was like telling us to keep calm or calm down but tears were falling from her eyes as she hold us tighter.

I was scared at the same time I was surprised as how we can see the ground floor without even leaning towards the corridor and we are on the 6th and highest floor of the condominium complex.

The earthquake stopped after 2 minutes more or less I guess and then we saw a big gray cloud slowly covering the Makati skyline where our unit is facing.

What we saw was actually the ash fall coming from Mount Pinatubo in Zambales that just made eruption and might also have caused the earthquake as well.

That experience impacted me passively since my profound fear of heights just manifested 2 decades after and when I started working in one of the twin towers in Makati.

I was assigned at a work station facing the window overlooking the other twin tower and I felt lightheadedness in 2 minutes and I quit my job in 2 months because I am extremely feeling uncomfortable and unsafe where I am working.

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