<11-Sep-2008> (photos from:Gulf News website)

話說昨天下午從印度打來回班回來，因為只睡兩小時、從半夜十二點出門到下午一點半才到家、累得頭昏眼花的我，以史上最迅速的速度直接進浴室卸妝洗臉準備睡覺，連一邊卸睫毛膏一邊賞網看飛喵喵的這步驟都省了，一切都是為了可以睡兩小時後就醒來趕赴友人的晚餐之約。不幸的是，頭等艙三個組員，只要有一個人一直很輕鬆的跟座艙長閒聊，另一個再偶爾穿插附和一下，打廚房的我就會認命地做加倍的事來趕上進度，下了飛機自然也是雙倍的疲勞。

反正，當原本要一起吃晚餐的朋友一聽到我下午一點才剛下飛機，就很識相的說:「妳先休息再說吧。」完全知道上了年紀又剛做了熬夜長班的空姐能赴五小時後的晚餐之約只有百分之一的機率。

Anyway,我一回家還是try my best的立刻調鬧鐘倒頭就睡。

醒來的時候，已經過了四個半小時，傍晚六點半了。一如往常不知道怎麼關掉鬧鐘的，趕緊打電話給朋友，好吧，大家都很開心在杜拜的另一端吃義大利麵，我只好改約下次了，雖然下次總是遙遙無期。

掛了電話，還攤在床上不能動，混混沌沌的腦袋，突然想起來，睡到一半的時候，住隔壁棟的stella好像有打電話來:

鈴~~鈴~~~鈴~~~~~~

「喂.........」我反射動作的接起電話

『Janice! 剛剛是不是有地震?!!!』stella劈頭就問

「沒有阿.....」我反射性的回答

『沒有嗎?妳沒有感覺到嗎???我的床都在搖耶!!』stella還是用很吃驚的口吻

「哪有.......」我的眼睛自始至終都是閉著的

『喔，那可能沒有....妳在幹麻?』此刻她懷疑那床的搖晃是阿飄搞鬼

「在睡覺.....」我的嘴巴在睡眠模式也會應對進退

『那妳繼續睡吧。』stella被我說服那是錯覺了

「掰.........」終於掛了電話，立即回到無意識狀態

這時候想起來，也不能幹麻，客廳電視只有三個阿拉伯頻道都播講話像吵架的土到不行阿拉伯鄉土連續劇，連個可以關心時事的CNN、BBC都看不到，何況我昨天睡覺時真的是累到絲毫沒有感覺到任何動靜，大概就像921地震時，彰化就在南投隔壁，半夜家人都被晃醒了，唯獨我弟仍沉醉在夢裡。

進廚房煮飯，室友問我下午兩三點左右的時候在幹麻，我機伶的說，是不是有地震?室友說，對阿，你有感覺到呀?我的床都在晃呢。奇了，地震時大家都在床上呀?室友說，他媽媽從阿布達比打電話回來報告此奇景，該城市的居民大家都逃出房子跑上街，議論紛紛的討論著地震。哇，心想，我可是來自地震也震不倒的無敵島國，豈能輕易的對地震發出驚嘆。室友說，震央來自伊朗西南，六點一級的地震。那，杜拜這邊會感覺到幾級呢?查了一下新聞，噢，整個阿拉伯聯合大公國的地震級數從四點八到二點八集都有，所以才會有上圖和下圖這樣的驚慌不安景象吧。

(此建築為杜拜金融大樓)

那，那棟正在興建中的世界最高樓，應該有防震吧。嗯，有嗎??

正當我在寫此文時，看到CNN新聞快報說，日本剛剛發生六點九級地震後，接著沒多久在印尼也發生六點六級地震。昨天除了伊朗，CNN說昨天再致力北部也發生了六級地震。

接連兩天在各地有四起六級以上的地震，這世界是怎麼啦!?

(上圖from: www.khaleejtimes.com)

附上一小篇杜拜免費報紙今天的頭版，可見大家有多驚慌。相形之下，我也太處變不驚了吧。

11-SEP-2008 7 days newspaper(www.7days.ae)
”Did the earth move for you?”

High-rise buildings were evacuated and people were forced to flee as a strong earthquake in southern Iran sent tremors across the UAE yesterday.The 6.1 magnitude quake hit at around 3pm, with its epicentre close to Qishm islands, 135 kilometres north of Ras Al Khaimah.

Mild tremors ranging from 4.8 to 2.8 on the Richter Scale were recorded across the UAE.People in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman felt the tremors with many leaving their buildings as they worried about what was happening. The Dubai International Financial Centre was also evacuated. “It was terrible. Everything was moving. It felt like something had hit the building,” said Elizabeth who works in the Al Thurayah Block in Dubai Media City. She said that she ran out of the office on the 20th floor along with other colleagues, adding “there was panic everywhere”.No damage to any buildings was reported and Mohammed Mashroom, Director of the Survey Department at Dubai Municipality, which monitors seismic activity, said the city had escaped unharmed. “We are monitoring constantly through our local seismic monitoring stations. They are just mild tremors and did not have any effect on buildings in Dubai,” he said. Residents were also shocked in the capital as buildings and homes rocked with the power of the tremors. Jamal Abdalla, Head of the Civil Engineering section at the American University of Sharjah, told 7DAYS that aftershocks like this were common after earthquakes across the Gulf.“There is a need to educate people and for precautions to be taken in the event of an earthquake,” he said.Five people died in Iran as a result of the earthquake.