Woke up at around 3 this morning with the bed shaking. How would you describe the sound of an earthquake? More than the tremor, it's actually the sound of walls trembling and floors quivering that scare me during earthquakes. I woke up Tere and we were holding hands in the darkness for five seconds or so.

Earthquakes scare me like hell. My mind always drifts back to the 1991 earthquake that shook the entire Philippines, with Central Luzon as the epicenter. I was in sixth grade then and was in school. I think it was Math when suddenly the wood partitions of the classrooms started shaking. It was the sound that really terrified me. It sounded like hooves, monsters' hooves and ghouls wailing. We were all plastered in our seats, the teacher calmed us students but didnt lead us out of the classroom.

I was 12 and I thought I was going to die--die without my loved ones beside me. But again, it's the thought of my family getting hurt that scared me more.

I started crying and I desperately wanted to go to the Grades 2 and 4 classrooms to get TJ and Tere. I wanted the three of us to be together and look for Mama at the high school building.

I remember the prayers, my classmates crying for their moms, the Hail Mary's and the hooves, the monsters.

And this morning, while the earth was shaking, I called Kulas on my mobile and told him there's an earthquake. He didn't feel it until my call woke him up. I texted Mama that there's been an earthquake and Tere and I were so scared. Kulas and Mama were two of the most important people in my life who weren't near me that time.

Now, I'm bracing myself for the aftershocks.