Girl, 7, and hamsters shaken by tremor
The recent wave of tremors has taken their toll on children and animals.
The tremors that hit Randfontein and the West Rand recently have had serious emotional affects on residents and their animals.
Also read: North-West tremor felt all over
One such resident is Tanya Venter from Wheatlands who explained to the Herald how her family and pets experienced the tremors that occurred on Monday (3 April). Tanya said her family didn’t feel the tremor on Monday morning but the one in the evening was a different story.
Tanya explained that she has a balance problem after partially losing the use of the left side of her body. She thought the tremor that occurred in the evening was a symptom of her condition.
She said that on Monday evening, while her daughter Chevani was taking a bath, she called her mother and said the bathroom was moving. A panicked Tanya did not feel anything and only when she walked to the bathroom she realised that her daughter was feeling a tremor.
She said before she got to the bathroom she saw the family’s hamsters in a state of panic. One of them, Billy, that had his leg amputated some time ago, was hanging from the top of his cage – a usually impossible feat for the disabled hamster.
“I can’t quite explain the feeling. I felt drunk and disoriented. It was quite exciting to me, though, as I’ve never felt a tremor before. Only afterwards I realised how scared I was. My instinct to protect my daughter kicked in immediately,” she said.
She said Chevani’s hand had to be pried from the edge of the bath because she was so scared. The two then waited out the tremor in their living room.
Also read: VIDEO: Will more tremors hit Randfontein?
Tanya said since the incident her daughter has tremors and earthquakes on her mind, and has nightmares. The family’s hamsters are fine but she said it took them a while to recover.
Tanya said more needs to be done to educate people about natural disasters in South Africa as we know little of how devastating they can be or what to do to protect ourselves and our families.
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