YINCHUAN, Ningxia: I was placing my recorder on the desk of deputy mayor Li Weidong when I heard the woman behind me murmuring I feel dizzy. Another one joined her: Me too. Then they both said: It's an earthquake!
By that time, I could clearly feel the swaying of the building. It was gentle and rhythmic1. I said gentle because half an hour earlier, when the plane I took was touching2 down at Yinchuan Airport, it hit turbulence3, which sent my head spinning and I had not totally recovered from it.
As one who went through the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, I quickly gauged4 that the tremor5, as felt in Yinchuan, should register at about 5 on the Richter scale. It turned out to be a quake rolled to Yinchuan some 900 km away from the epicenter in Sichuan province.
The man accompanying me said: Everyone stay calm! This building can withstand an 8-magnitude tremor. Don't worry!
The 16-story city hall of Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous6 region, was newly built. I was on the 15th floor, waiting to interview the deputy mayor.
The swaying lasted a good 30 seconds before my host got anxious. Let's take off, he said.
When we reached the stairs, I still felt a bit of motion sickness, but could not tell whether it was getting better or worse as there was a column of staff descending7 the stairs and the pace was hurried but orderly.
Cell phone signals were not available for some 10 minutes, and then everyone started making calls.