“It’s like standing in a bus that comes to a sudden halt.”
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That’s what an earthquake feels like from the perspective of Goulburn First National Real Estate’s Terry Austin .
“We stood with our two feet wide apart to balance. We were swaying, but it didn’t look like other people were swaying,” she said.
Ms Austin was in Bali at the time of the Indonesian earthquakes in Lombok, but still felt the impact.
“I was there for all three earthquakes. I was on holidays with my kids,” she said.
She was in bed with her husband when the first earthquake occurred and received a shock even though it wasn’t too big.
“The first earthquake was quite mild. I was in bed in our resort. I looked over to my husband and was like, did you feel that? My kids were actually quite scared and they’re 20-30 years old,” she said.
Talking to a couple of locals shortly after, the real estate agent learnt there would be more to come.
“A few locals told me there would be bigger ones to come, but I didn’t tell my children that,” she said.
The main earthquake was the second one which occurred a week after the first.
Although the second earthquake caused a bigger shake than the first, the locals seemed unperturbed.
“I was outside for the second one and it was pretty big. The locals were around us but didn’t really seem too worried,” she said.
“They seemed more amused by our reaction – more than anything else.”
At least 430 people are dead with many more injured.
Ms Austin and her family are safely back in Australia.