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Earthquake Memories
updated: Oct 28, 2012, 8:18 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

Earthquake Memories --

I have a faint memory of the San Fernando/Sylmar Quake, "the hospital quake." I believe we felt it, but I picture the tv news coverage of destruction. I have some memory of the '87 Whittier Narrows quake, but only from tv.

SB August 13, 1978 quake. My memory of it is faint. My memory of its aftermath is much stronger, as I worked in a stockroom. Good thing it was on a Sunday! I figure I could've moved from my desk, but if not, I'd be covered and injured by a cascade of metal cabinets containing hardware. link

Loma Prieta, in SF during World Series 1989, was 10-15 seconds and a 6.9. Hard to believe it was that short. I watched it, as so many, if not most of us did. And watched the reconstruction, for so very long.

Landers, out in the Mojave desert in 1992, hit at 5 a.m., thank goodness. It was a 7.3, reportedly two to three minutes! It seemed huge to me here in SB, shook the hell outta me, my cats & my place: closet doors, windows, anything hanging, were rattling and banging and it scared the crap out of me. The ground fissures were amazing. Good thing it was out in the Mojave... Weird how that felt like the largest even though I've felt large local quakes.

Northridge in '94 was a 6.7, but reportedly had a ground acceleration that was one of the highest ever recorded. No wonder we saw streets turn to fiery rivers. I've blocked it out, but I believe I felt it. I just remember a LOT of tv coverage, I was glued to it. I didn't know anyone affected until after they'd resettled and gotten back on track.

And the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake, which I think of as the Paso Robles quake -- my first day on the job. Things swung around pretty good in SB. I sure remember the two women killed when a store facade fell on them, may they continue their peace and be well-remembered.

I'm sure there are more. What are your deepest quake memories?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 336380	2012-10-28 08:39 AM
Last time I posted anything about an experience with earthquakes my post was deleted as I had mentioned that 3 letter word that starts with S and ends in X. I guess the very mention of IT sends Edhatters into a tizzy of shame and disgust. Americans are so weird.
COMMENT 336397	2012-10-28 10:05 AM
During the '78 quake I was ferrying out-of-town relatives on a tour of SB. We were stopped at the traffic light in front of La Cumbre Plaza when the quake struck. As the car lurched and rolled, my wife told me to stop fooling around with the brakes and gas pedals. Then we all looked over at the La Cumbre parking lot and it was undulating and rippling - as though someone had rolled a bowling ball underneath a carpet. We realized then,of course, that it was a fairly large quake and we sped up to the Museum of Natural History where a crowd was gathering to look at the seismograph. Then we also learned that the train tracks were bent and mangled at spots between Goleta and Gaviota.
ROGER DODGER	2012-10-28 10:22 AM
Sax?!
COMMENT 336406P	2012-10-28 10:52 AM
Six.
COMMENT 336409P	2012-10-28 10:58 AM
I remember the 1971 Sylmar quake mostly for the aftershocks. I was a student at CSUN at the time. It was especially creepy at night on the second floor when the buildings would shudder and the lights flicker at the same time.
COMMENT 336412P	2012-10-28 11:07 AM
Ah poor Roger, you really are getting old LOL
BECKY	2012-10-28 01:15 PM
Sylmar '71 quake: In the San Fernando Valley. Just woke up and was on the toilet. Water splashing on my behind meant something was very weird... Whole house shook and creaked, and a water line broke that we didn't discover for a month. SB '78 quake: On the front porch in Goleta, beneath a very pointy swinging porch light. I don't remember diving over the shrubs, but was in the middle of the lawn next, because I did not want that light falling on my head. My best friend had a bunch of kids from the SB Girls Club up at Red Rock. Those on shore felt it, but those in the water didn't. She had to make a giant loop to get those kids back home so their folks wouldn't worry, as San Marcos Pass was closed due to big rock falls. Northridge '94 was on MLK Day. We were having breakfast soon and spending the holiday playing with friends. The phone lines were still up, and they called to ask if we were still on. "Yep. Cooking with propane out in the back yard." The electricity was out much of the day, as were the UCSB computer and network systems we were responsible for. I remember with amusement when the TV came back on and we were watching for info, an aftershock hit the LA station. The CPA among us started silently counting when she saw the movement on the TV. I don't recall how many seconds it was until we felt the aftershock, but it was fascinating to experience the 8-12 second delay. Growing up in SoCal is a series of big earthquake, big fire and big rain memories.
COMMENT 336431	2012-10-28 01:27 PM
sox
COMMENT 336437	2012-10-28 01:43 PM
@380 apparently when some start rockin the neighbors can feel it, and for some others Hell freezes over. I happened to be in Northridge for that one, missed the 78 quake in SB because I was on vacation. I have experienced many "wobblers" but nothing I have ever experienced quake wise has come remotely close to the Northridge. A sound like a locomotive engine (probably the sine wave) sounded like a train was right outside the house. The whole building whipped side to side, kitchen cabinets would fly open on one side of the room as the other side slammed shut and then vice versa over and over. When it all stopped after about 30 seconds all of the car alarms down the streets as far as one could hear were whaling. Talk about feeling helpless!
COMMENT 336443	2012-10-28 02:03 PM
Loma Prieta Quake. I was in silicon valley about 5 miles straight line through the mountain from the epicenter. Sitting at my desk grading school papers. I got up and stood in the door frame and held the drawers to my file cabinet closed as they were beginning to come open. My wife had just opened the refrigerator door and I had to bring into the kitchen a flat bladed shovel and a plastic garbage can and scoop up all the stuff that fell (some on my wife) out of the refrigerator. Walked into the downtown of our village and found water bubbling out of cracks in the street and broken windows. Walked to our college and the library was a mass of twisted shelves and a floor full of books. Amazed that there was no loss of electricity or gas.
COMMENT 336481	2012-10-28 04:41 PM
I was 12 when the Northridge one hit. I also lived in Downtown L.A. at the time. I heard that baby coming miles away! Funny thing, the dogs and roosters were telling us about it, and minutes before it hit, they all shut up like no other! I hated the grumbling of it. It sounded like a hungry monster, looking for something to eat! I remember the 87, 89, and 92 quakes, too! Tho they hit in San Fran, I felt it pretty strongly in L.A. Of course, I was still a child, and was very frightened. I am terrified of earthquakes...and am always paranoid we're getting another big one, 'any day now' especially with this funky weather!
COMMENT 336489P	2012-10-28 05:44 PM
Not my memory, as I was in Asia in '78, but a friend of mine told me a cool story. He was a pot grower, tending his crop high up in the mountains above ??? Goleta somewhere. He said when the quake hit, he grabbed onto an oak tree (so, not that high up!) and watched the windows of Goleta flash in the sunlight, as the earth moved. He said a black bear then went tearing past him. What a moment.
ARTEMISIA	2012-10-28 07:09 PM
We were napping in our waterbed (!) the afternoon of the '78 quake. It definitely got our attention, but we didn't realize our house had suffered any damage until the following Labor Day. It was a cold, drizzly weekend, and when we built a fire in the fireplace, smoke poured out from between all the chimney stones. Pat Scott Masonry took down the entire chimney, leaving intact the stone facade up to the mantelpiece. They rebuilt the chimney with actual rebar and flue tiles, and also put in a heatilator to make the fireplace more effective in heating the house.. That work was done during the coldest week of the year. I was home sick with the flu while they were bashing at the rocks and black plastic tarps were flapping in the breeze. But we got a Small Business Administration no-interest disaster loan to cover the repair costs so it was a good experience overall, and one we'll never forget.
COMMENT 336520	2012-10-28 07:56 PM
Sux.
LUCKY 777	2012-10-29 10:39 AM
Sylmar '71 I was a high school kid near Pasadena, my favorite thing was the SOUND of it, growling and primordial. Several of my teachers stood in the doorways to lecture for days afterwards. SB '78 I was working as a UCSB "BEOG grant" gardener at La Casa de Maria. I saw the asphalt roadway begin to ripple up and down like a wave and I grabbed onto an ancient oak tree next to the chapel and told it "I'm a druid, save me!" and surfed the undulations. The stained glass windows in the building next to me rattled and shook. Afterwards we all pitched in to get the books back onto the shelves at the library on campus. Northridge '94 I was living above my tattoo studio in a warehouse downtown, and afterwards still had gas but no electricity. A Brooks student neighbor from Iceland had a battery operated radio and we huddled in my flat having coffee and eating up everything defrosting in the fridge and listening to the news reports, then would go out and walk the silent streets of deserted downtown. It was very "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Having never been hurt in any earthquake I have always enjoyed the raw thrill of them, certainly they put you "in the moment." Nowadays if I feel anything I tend to run to the USGS Earthquake website and put in my estimation of the size, duration,and possible epicenter. I particularly like guessing if it was inland or from the channel, and then checking back later to see if I was right.
COMMENT 336877	2012-10-29 04:56 PM
In the 50's myself and two other girls were in SLO waiting in front of the movie theater to pick up another friend. All of a sudden the car began to rock and we thought it was some boys who had been following us. When we didn't see anyone we ran into the theater (I know but we were 14 or so and immortal) just in time to see the picture flashing off the screen and onto the walls and ceiling. Then the mob almost trampled us running for the exit. This was in what later became the Palm theater. It was the Tehatchipe (SP?) earthquake. It didn't scare me but I never forgot it.

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