We reached Istanbul late the previous night after travelling on the speed train from Ankara. Parth was still operating at India time and we were up at 3 am entertaining him. We were all drifting off to sleep when we woke up to the sound of knocking at around 4 am. I went to check if someone was at the door and saw that it was not the main door – it was the wardrobe door opening and shutting. And it kept swinging back and forth. We also realised that our bed and the entire building was swinging like a pendulum. It was an earthquake! And we were stuck on the 20th floor of the hotel! I opened the main door and checked if people were evacuating – but everyone seemed to be fast asleep! I went to the window to check the status outside, but no one was coming out on the streets. Digging back memories of what to do in such a situation, we found the strongest table in the room and hid under it – hoping that the building was strong enough to hold together. The rocking motion continued for at least 5 more minutes – what felt like an eternity! The weird part was that it was not a simple vibration – everything was swinging back and forth (with significant “amplitude”). 

When everything came to a standstill, in our heads, we could still feel the rocking motion – similar to how you feel the swinging motion of a train after having travelled for a day or two in one. We wondered if it was in our heads or actual aftershocks. We couldn’t go back to sleep – so we got ready for the day. I kept checking the news and saw that there was a strong earthquake with its epicenter midway between Ankara and Istanbul (where we were the previous day). Over 2500 buildings were damaged but luckily, there was no direct loss of life. It was a terrifying experience, to say the least!