Natural Disasters Marks 15th Anniversary

People recall the earthquake in 2000 with laughter rather than fear, especially those, who were children or teens at that time. As for adults, this adrenaline amusement ride was slightly blighted by the responsibility for children. The city withstood a 6.5 magnitude earthquake with honor – there was no serious damage. Even if anyone was injured, that was due to a stampede on the staircase or the result of jumping out of the window in fear.

These are the most popular stories fifteen years ago

Half-naked neighbors (it was late at night, someone was sleeping, someone was taking a bath). However, there were people, who put on jackets and ties and left the house half an hour after the quake.

A neighbor, who was drunk, slept through the whole fun. There is a legend about a scientist, who knew for sure, there could not be any destructive earthquakes in Baku. So, he locked up his family at home to prevent them from being trampled down on the staircase of a high-rise building.

Terrible stories about very greedy taxi drivers. Having taken advantage of the panic, some conscienceless taxi drivers wrung extortionate prices.

Strange things that people grabbed, when running out of the house. For instance, a tall stooped man, embracing a pillow, was walking around one of the parks in the city center.

And the funniest story is about the groom, who got away from the wedding, leaving the bride.

Rena Aliyeva, a well-known blogger, recalls

‘That evening I was standing at the phone set, looking thoughtfully at the dial and chewing a persimmon. My parents and brother were watching TV. A four-year-old niece was sweetly snoring.
Suddenly I saw the lamp swinging and the walls started moving.
– Earthquake! – I screamed and put a saucer with persimmon on the table. My mom grabbed my niece, my brother – the mother’s coat, dad seized TV remote, and I … an electric kettle. And so we ran out.
Neighbors were running from everywhere . When everyone gathered in the center of the yard, the electricity was cut off and the lights went off in all apartments; women started wailing and children were weeping. That very moment was the most terrible for me that day – the windows that blackened at once.
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I do not want all those disasters, wars, black windows.
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I wanted to write it in a playful, funny manner, but it turned out to be gloomy, sad, abrupt. Sorry!’.

That day, many people did a small, but very needful miracle. Sabina Abdullayeva, a student, was smiling and trying to calm down her neighbors, who were standing under a tottering high-rise building. Nazilya Mamedova, a psychologist, cool-headedly finished her supper, sitting under a wobbling chandelier, and then went out to assist the fellow citizens, who had experienced shock. Khadija Mammadova, an economist, got back home to take some sandwiches to feed the neighbors, who gathered in the park. Some way or other, apart from recollection of the feeling of helplessness, each Baku resident memorizes a warm feeling of empathy and solidarity.