Earthquakes

We had an earthquake Sunday night here in southern California. A 4.7 magnitude. It was minor, though stronger than most, and lasted less than ten seconds, though longer than most. Having spent my whole life in California I have long ago accepted earthquakes as part of my life.


February 1971

The Sylmar Earthquake of 1971 was the first earthquake I remember. I was just a little guy of four and got to experience a 6.6 magnitude on the Richter scale! That correlates to a BIG one. I remember my dad hustling about the house looking for all the kids; there were four of us then. He told me and my older brother to stand in the door frame of the hallway, a strong point in case of earthquake-induced structural collapse.

I thought the earthquake was kind of fun, although I found out many years later this quake caused much property damage. With that as my first earthquake experience, and thinking it was fun, I had never really been bothered or upset by them and have been lucky enough to not be harmed, physically or financially, by one to date.


January 1994

My good natured acceptance of earthquakes changed with the Northridge Earthquake! The force of this 6.7 magnitude and the sound it produced was VERY scary.

Most earthquakes are so minor and short lived that I usually merely pause from what I’m doing for a few seconds during the actual shaking without bolting for safety. But Northridge was different. I lived then 20 miles away from the epicenter, the center of the quake, and the jolt scared me so much that I immediately went for the door frame. It occurred at 4:30 am. I tumbled to the ground trying to get out of bed. Across the hall was one of my roommates standing in his door frame. Twenty seconds it lasted! That is an amazingly long time for an Earthquake to shake. A 6.7 magnitude shaking for 20 seconds does catastrophic damage!


Wife Klem and I strive to help our kids overcome Earthquake fear. Convey an understanding of what to do so that they are not immobilized from fear. We’re native Californians and plan to remain Californians, so living in fear of earthquakes would be a real bummer.


“I’m scared,” said our daughter after Sunday’s shaker.

“No you weren’t. That was like a ride at Disneyland,” smiling back to her. She laughed at the mention of Disneyland and lay back in bed.

We’ll follow up with a conversation to review Earthquake protocol. The Northridge one, though, that was no Disney ride. That was a perspective changer.
-klem

[p.s. I understand that standing in a door frame is now outdated procedure. Current Life / Safety procedure for earthquakes now suggests that a person is to get under something sturdy, like a firm table or desk. And stay away from windows and potentially heavy falling objects.]