Dreaming of an earthquake

Dreaming of the earthquake has probably given you some agitation; maybe you dreamed of a very strong earthquake, or a milder one, with just a few small tremors. I bet you woke up suddenly in fear, but immediately feeling a great relief when you saw that it was just a dream.
But what does it mean to dream of an earthquake? Why does it sometimes become a recurring dream? Could it be a premonitory dream?

Meaning of the earthquake in dreams

• News on the way, changes taking place: this is also the most widespread popular interpretation, and it has its validity also from a psychological point of view. Earthquakes originate from changes and displacements of the earth’s crust, which continuously settles, which is always in motion, even if it seems solid and firm to our eyes. Therefore an earthquake could herald the emergence of new situations, changes, new settlements and balances.
• Instincts with difficulty kept in check: the underground world lends itself to represent latent impulses and primitive vital instincts that push to emerge, but the conscience keeps them in check so that they do not create damage and are hidden from view. However, if you repress your impulses and needs too much, they could at some point shake you from within and erupt suddenly, just like the earthquake.
• Crisis, frictions, inner conflicts, or between you and others, society, the management of various areas of life and the different social roles that do not always coincide and it is not easy to keep together. Mediating between what you want and what others expect from you can be difficult.
• Lack of balance, instability, uncertainty: maybe you are going through a period in which you feel without reference points, insecure, at the mercy of events, exposed to dangers.
• Destabilizing and traumatic events that have shaken you, deprived of your certainties, of your fixed points; it is as if you felt the earth fail under your feet. Ex: bereavement, separation or loss.
• Conflict with the mother: a more Freudian interpretation, if you like, which looks to the earth as a symbol of the mother; the earthquake would therefore represent a castrating, suffocating, tyrannic mother, who prevents the child from emancipating himself from her and fulfilling himself in life

The earthquake as a recurring dream

For some people, dreaming of an earthquake is a recurring nightmare. This may be due to the panic experienced during a real earthquake, an event unfortunately not so rare; the strong impression leaves a psychic trace, and in dreams one could very often relive that trauma, even after years.
Dreaming of an earthquake can become a recurring dream in periods of life characterized by great change and personal growth; for example, in adolescence and menopause, which are stages of transition. Pregnant women can also often dream of earthquakes, especially around childbirth.

Dreaming of earthquake in bed, while sleeping

Dreaming of an earthquake in bed, while sleeping, feeling shocks, feeling the bed swaying and waking up: all this could be the effect of hypnopompic or hypnagogic hallucinations, all the more likely if the ‘dream’ occurs shortly before waking up or shortly after having fallen asleep. It can also occur in association with sleep paralysis. They are all physiological states that give rise to very vivid and realistic hallucinations, which cause physical and kinesthetic sensations (one can really get the impression that the bed is shaking, and this can produce the belief that there are tremors, as in a real undulatory or jolting earthquake).
Hallucinations can also include hearing: in fact, you may also hear a loud roar or rumble, the noise of rubble, shattered glass.

Dreaming of a very strong, devastating earthquake, with collapses

Dreaming of a very strong earthquake, very violent and destructive, with tremors that make the earth tremble under your feet, collapses, chasms that open, buildings and houses that collapse, etc. can be a warning for you; on a psychological level, in fact, it can represent something that distresses you, upsets you or hurts you; it can concern, as mentioned, your interiority, or the relationship with other people.
Since the earthquake often originates from the collision that is created between two contiguous areas, in dreams the earthquake can indicate that two ‘areas’ of your life (for example: professional life and private life) have come too close and are creating very dangerous tensions. , which could explode violently.
The place where the earthquake occurs can give you an idea of what the scope of the crisis is; many people dream of the earthquake:

at school: school problems
at work, in the office: work problems
at home: family problems
in bed: couple crisis, sexual problems

Dreaming of an earthquake in the house, a house that collapses

If in the dream your house collapses, you see the walls cracking, breaking, collapsing, etc. this can represent a sense of fragility and vulnerability of your ego. In fact, the house in dreams represents your ego, your personality, and seeing it collapse due to the earthquake can be a sign of psychophysical discomfort, trauma, stress, disappointments; even a major life change could have given rise to such a dream, underscoring the need to demolish the old and rebuild the new.

Dreaming of an earthquake and being buried, stuck

Dreaming of being buried, stuck under the rubble of the earthquake, not being able to move: this is equivalent to being ‘swallowed’ by the earth, and therefore can represent the excessive repression of a vital instinct, the impossibility of being realized, as if there were a heavy weight, obstacle, block that prevents it.
Dreaming of falling into a chasm – feelings of guilt and fear prevent your personality from emerging

Dreaming of an earthquake and saving yourself

If you’re having a hard time, this positive outcome helps you have more confidence in yourself, strengthens your self-esteem, and pushes you to face challenges with courage and determination.