Two young students recounted their first experience of an earthquake when the effects of a big one in Myanmar rumbled into Thailand on Friday, with one of them saying that she initially thought she had spent too much time on her smartphone.
Patraporn Kamvaew, a Grade 3 student at Petcharawuth Wittaya School, was at home during the school break when the tremor hit Bangkok. “I was playing a game on my mobile phone, when I felt my house shaking. I thought it might be because I had played too much,” she said.
She soon realised that it was an earthquake when her mother told her to run outside. She said her teacher had taught her that earthquakes occur due to shifting land, and to survive, one should take cover under a table or move into an open space.
“My teacher said we should hide under a table if the house collapses. If it doesn’t, we should run outside,” she said.
Meanwhile, Patraporn’s classmate, Pasharapa Suvanvitit, was at school for a summer class when the quake struck. “I was walking down the stairs when I felt the ground tremble beneath my feet. I saw a friend fall over. That was when my teacher pulled me close to her,” she said.
Afterwards, the students were guided to an open space in front of the school.
“Before Friday, I knew nothing about earthquakes, but I once watched a cartoon on YouTube that suggested hiding under a table,” she said. “If I experience an earthquake again, I will definitely stay close to adults,” she added.
