I don't normally post too much personal stuff on this blog. I try to stick to the film business, but today I have to say I AM IN HAWAII AND EARLIER TODAY I WAS IN MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE. A 6.5 magnitude... there hasn't been an earthquake this big in Hawaii since 1983! Crazy stuff.

After it happened my first concern was a tsunami. Very scary - especially after seeing what happened in Indonesia a couple years ago. But, thank goodness there were no tsunami warnings or any sign of one.

So what happened?

Christine (my wife) and I woke up early and she went on a snorkeling trip. I stayed at the hotel to watch football (yeah I know, I'm in Hawaii and I'm staying in to watch football? I'm a big Cowboys fan what can I say...). Anyway, she left and I just started watching the game around 7am local Hawaii time (5 hours behind Dallas) and next thing you know I hear this sound like - and I hate to say it because it sounds cliche' - A FREIGHT TRAIN. Just a very loud rumbling sound.

At first I thought it was a bell cart in the hallway. Then I noticed the bed shaking and the floor starting to wave. Next the table in the room started to violently shake. My computer shook and almost fell on the floor. My iPod did take a tumble to the ground (but it's okay, I know you were worried).

Keep in mind, I'm from Dallas, Texas. We don't have earthquakes there. We have tornados and I will take one of them anytime over this. At least with a tornado you have some advanced warning.

So back to the event. I'm running around the room like your dog or cat does when you turn on the vacuum. I honestly had NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. Being from Texas I had no training on what you should do. So, I looked for my shoes and ran out in the hallway. Bad thing is I'm on the 7th floor of the hotel. No real good place to go. As I got into the hallway many of the other guests were out there and they told me to stand in the doorway. I later learned that is what you should do - OR just get out of the building.

Oh yeah, back to Christine. I mentioned she was going snorkeling... and she did. She was driving to meet the chartered boat and didn't even feel the quake. I called her and she wondered why there were rocks all over the road. She ended up going on the trip, but in the end she wished she hadn't. Although there were no tsunami issues, the seas were very high and she got sea sick on the trip out to the reef. Just nasea luckily, but it was not good. She did end up enjoying the fish and coral, but the trips there and back were brutal.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel... I had no idea what was going on with her. The phones and electricity were out. My mobile phone would work here and there - but I only got her voicemail (I learned later she was okay minus being sea sick).

In the end we're okay, but I have to say it was one of the scariest-natural-disaster-type-events I've ever been in. It was over in a flash, but the unknowns were (and are) difficult to think about.

I'll be back in Texas later this week (looking forward to it too), and will be back to talking film. A lot of cool stuff going on with "Killing Down". :)

-Blake

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