Custodian caught in Hawaiian quake

DANNY FLEEGLE/St. Marys

St. Marys custodian David Wagner bought this shirt after experiencing an earthquake during his Hawaiian vacation.

By Emily Barksdale
St. Marys High School

When St. Marys High School custodian David Wagner signed up for the trip to Hawaii sponsored by Parkersburg television station WTAP, he was just looking to have a nice vacation. But four days after arriving in the Aloha State, he had a rude awakening.

“I was taking pictures out on the deck where our hotel was on the Big Island,” he said. “I just thought that it was getting windy out.

“I looked around and there were no trees blowing, but I didn’t think much about it,” he continued. “I walked back in the building and they said, ‘Get out! Get out!’ When I went outside, they said, ‘It’s an earthquake.’”

The 6.7-magnitude quake hit just after 7 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern time). There was no major destruction, but the quake did cause property damage, power outages, landslides and transportation difficulties.

“In my room, all the drawers in the cabinets came out. In some rooms, the televisions and the lamps fell over,” Wagner said. “The doors in your rooms tell you about fire escapes, but they never said anything about earthquakes!”

The earthquake occurred just before the halfway point of Wagner’s 10-day trip. In addition to the stop at Hawaii’s Big Island, the group also visited Oahu and Maui.

It was Wagner’s first time in Hawaii. Other than the earthquake, “we had a good time,” he said. “We had great weather everyday — a high of 85 and a low of 74.”

He said the earthquake didn’t really disrupt the group’s plans. “There was a dinner cruise that evening, but they had to cancel that. That was the only thing that was affected.”

Instead of the cruise, the group had a pizza party at the pool outside its hotel.

Despite the quake, Wagner enjoyed his Hawaiian visit. “If you ever get the chance to go, go for it,” he advised.