Ryan Kanno: The diary of an Enginerd in Hawaii

I was rudely awakened this morning by turbulence caused from the swaying of my entire apartment complex. After having been violently flung to the floor, I quickly began to recollect the prior evening’s events — thinking I was still somewhat in a drunken stupor.

Realizing that it wasn’t my head spinning, I gathered myself and sprinted down 12 flights of stairs to be greeted by a crowd of tenants who had gathered outside. A feeling of helplessness still lingers; one that I have never experienced in my 28 years of existence, and as I think back on the moment, it still feels all very surreal…

For the record, at 7:07 A.M. on October 15, 2006, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, centered on the Kona side of the Big Island, rattled the Hawaiian islands. Shortly thereafter, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake followed by dozens of aftershocks sent tremors throughout the state. Though much of the structural damage occurred on the Big Island, Oahu, or at least my apartment building, wasn’t spared. Here’s the damage to our lobby.

Check out my flickr set for more images!

If you’ve been keeping up with my banal existence, you’ll know that I received a surprise gyotaku for my soon-to-be birthday. Since I don’t entirely trust my carpentry skeelz, I called up the real Mr. Kanno to come help.

Even though I’m much more educated than my father, it always seems like dads know (and will always know) way more $hit than you do. In any case, half an hour of measuring and drilling through concrete, this was the final result.

(With a glimpse of my moms and pops!)

So P.I.M.P.!