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‘We Just Held Onto Each Other, Seeing Everything Fall Apart’: Young Maltese Couple Recounts Harrowing Bali Earthquake Experience

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When Erika Dingli and Zack Ritchie set out for a two month holiday in Indonesia, they expected to see beautiful, wild terrain and experience a lifestyle far-flung from their own in Malta. The picturesque island of Bali was one of their first stops, and they were soaking up the laidback lifestyle on the tropical sweet spot.

But when a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck on Sunday the 5th of August, the Maltese couple were thrown into a perilous situation they were not expecting, and even less ready for. Lovin Malta spoke to Erika just one day after landing in Malta about the dire situation they had suddenly found themselves in.

“We were at our hotel in the village of Kuta on Bali, and Zack wanted to buy a hat for his brother. We were staying near a shopping mall, so we said ‘let’s go and buy the hat from there’,” she recounted of the moments before the earthquake struck.

“As we were heading to the mall I said ‘actually, let’s go to another shop to buy the hat so that afterwards we can go and have dinner,’ because there weren’t many places to eat at that mall.”

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Pictures from their relaxing holiday before the earthquake hit

This seemingly small change of plans could have saved their lives

“We entered the shop, and while Zack was picking out a hat, all of a sudden we started hearing people screaming: ‘earthquake!'” she said.

“The glass door started to shake, and the building we were in starting moving,” she continued. “We ran outside into the street and found everybody screaming in the middle of the road. The cars had stopped, everyone was crying and screaming as the buildings around us were shaking. All this stuff, things like signs, glass and window shutters, were falling off of the tops of buildings.”

Erika knew that they could be harmed at any moment from all the falling debris

“When we were in the middle of the road, we just held onto each other, seeing everything fall apart… What goes through your mind is ‘please let this stop, hopefully nothing hits me and my partner’ and we just held on to each other very tightly, praying and hoping that we would get to see our families again,” she said.

“It’s a very scary feeling, you can’t control it, there’s not much you can do when you’re in an earthquake – just pray and hope that you’ll be fine.”

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Image: IFOOH

As the earthquake began to recede, they surveyed the damage all around them

“From what I saw around us, no-one was severely injured, it was more of shock, though I know one person did have a heart attack in a nearby restaurant,” she said.

However, when they found out the shopping mall they had planned to go to had caved in, trapping the shoppers inside, Erika and Zack knew they had dodged a bullet.

“We felt really lucky, especially when we found out that people had gotten trapped inside the mall we were going to and couldn’t leave – we could have been among those people. Part of the car park had collapsed as well, and luckily we weren’t a part of that,” she said.

An Australian news segment that mentions the man who suffered the heart attack in Kuta

They got a hold of their family in Malta to let them know they were OK – and to see how to get back home ASAP

“As soon as the earthquake was over, we called our families to tell them what happened. Then, we started hearing other people say there was a tsunami threat, and seeing as this was the fourth earthquake we had experienced within ten days of being there, as well as the strongest with the most damage…” she trailed off.

They got through to Zack’s father who arranged for them to get on the next flight to Malta, which was leaving in three hours. He told them to get back to the hotel, pack, and get to the airport quickly

“We quickly ran to the hotel which was about ten minutes away from the shop we were in. During the journey home we saw many people still in the streets, people trapped, and security was trying to get the people trapped in the shopping mall out as children cried in the street,” she said.

“When we got to the hotel the owner asked us if we were ok: they didn’t know if we were trapped in the room or not. We packed, and, three hours after the earthquake, we were boarding from Bali to go to Dubai,” she said.

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The airport itself was in chaos

“We have a lot to thank for, our families and especially my partner’s father, because without them we would have been stuck, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything. There was a major power cut in the area, and the airport at a point wasn’t operating,” she said.

“When we got to the airport we saw lot of people trying to buy tickets from the counter because they wanted to leave there and then – most people didn’t even have luggage with them, they just wanted to leave with what they had, as long as they had their passport they were ready to leave,” she said.

Though relieved to be on the flight, the fear hadn’t subsided yet.

“We arrived at Dubai the next day after a nine hour flight full of turbulence – and every time we felt the turbulence we thought it was an earthquake, because after such a traumatic experience anything that has the same sound or a similar feeling makes you think of the situation.”

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When they finally arrived in Malta, they were able to breathe easier, though they are still getting to grips with what they went through

“It’s very traumatic,’ says Erika. “Sometimes when we hear a similar sound it’s like our mind starts playing games and we think the floor is moving but it won’t be. This is most likely because we still haven’t recovered from the shock.”

Their families have been a huge support since they’ve returned.

“When we arrived yesterday late afternoon in Malta both of our families were there waiting for us. It was the best feeling to see your families when you thought you would never see them again, we all hugged very tightly, and we spent the whole day together, nobody went to work, and just counted our blessings together.”

Looking back, Erika is relieved she and her partner escaped the natural disaster unscathed, but can’t help think about the others still trapped there.

“It was a miracle I think, there are people on the island who cannot leave, which is not a very nice feeling,” she says wistfully. “We were meant to go on a two month journey… but we stopped it very early. We just wanted to leave and come home, back to Malta.”

Have you ever experienced a natural disaster? Let us know in the comments below

READ NEXT: 7 Events Which Would Single-Handedly End Life In Malta As We Know It

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Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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