We had rented a small ranch-style house on a cul-de-sac on Spring Oak Drive in Bronson Canyon, between Franklin Avenue and Griffith Park, and had just purchased a new king size bed when it happened. There was a terrible noise that everyone describes it as the sound of a freight train passing through your house, and they’re right. The bed started walking across the room toward the bathroom door. The thing was shaking and bouncing and pictures were dropping off the walls and shattering on the floor, and I shouted to my wife Carolyn, “It’s a nuclear attack!” We struggled out of bed and started moving toward the back door.
We lived in Thousand Oaks in 1994 and the earthquake was really devastating. I remember standing under the front door header during an aftershock and watching our one-ton truck, which was parked in the driveway, shaking and rocking. Fortunately we didn’t have any damage to our house. Coincidentally, my sister, who lives in northern New Jersey near Newton, had been visiting us in Santa Barbara years before and experienced an earthquake then, so she was aware of what was happening. She did say it sounded like a freight train…
And don't forget I was 3 months pregnant with our first baby, Lilly. I was terrified that something would happen to her. Once we got out on the street and confirmed that all our neighbors had their gas valves turned off, my OBGYN called me to tell me that women miscarry in these extreme situations. She told me to breathe deeply and lie down. Worry about the damage later. Dr. Matsanaga called all of her pregnant patients to tell them what to do to mitigate a miscarriage. I loved her for that. Mind over matter will save your baby. I am forever grateful to Dr. Matsanaga for caring enough to call me. Lilly is now 29 and healthy as a horse. (and btw, that was just after the Rodney King riots that were just down the street from our house and the rioters were marching into our canyon) Dr. Matsanaga walked me through all those threats and disasters and I produced a gorgeous 10 lb. baby girl. I'll never forget her.
Good to be back in the saddle with you. Somehow my paid account got suspended and l stopped receiving posts!
After several days of complaining to a very nice robot, it seems that I’ve be reinstated.
My daughter, Ariana moved out to the West Coast about 16 years ago for graduate school in LA. We were concerned about @the Big One”, but she was prepared. With her teaching stipend she bought an apartment in the reconverted Singer Sewing Machine Factory and managed to survive the loneliness of COVID isolation. I suggested she set up her tent in the living room and the bedroom swing and big-screen TV were already in place.
Fortunately because she had adopted a small dog, Fox, she was permitted outside while everyone else was quarantined!
Two years ago Ariana moved back in the East Coast for employment and rented out her apartment in LA. She was teaching high school in the Bronx when the students chairs started shaking on Friday, April 5th! That was it! You just never know what life has to offer!
Let’s not obsess about perceived and actual threats, and be prepared for anything! And for goodness sake, exercise your patience and our appreciate our versatility. It could always be worse!
Thanks for this memory, Lucian. When I moved back to my homeland, New Zealand, in 1985 it was to a country which its first human inhabitants, the Maori, who arrived by canoe from Polynesia less than 800 years ago, spoke about being a land which the gods had hauled up from the depths of the ocean. Like a lot of so-called ‘primitive mythology,’ they were not wrong. The landform the Maori call ‘Aotearoa’ is the result of the clashing of two tectonic plates: the Pacific plate and the Australian. As the Pacific plate dives under the Australian, that geological action produces some of the most severe earthquakes in the world. In my time there I was to become quite accustomed to seeing buildings sway and feel the ground rocking and rolling beneath me. However, given that earthquakes have been a matter of record for as long as humans have been there, it should also be noted that New Zealand is in the forefront of building structures that are designed to be earthquake resistant. Given that the country experiences between 14-15,000(!) earthquakes a year of which maybe 200 are large enough to be felt, it is something that government takes very seriously. The deadliest earthquake on record in New Zealand was in 1931 when the cities of Napier and Hastings were basically flattened, causing the deaths of over of over 250 people. This accounts for Napier being known today as ‘The Art Deco Capital of the World.’ How so? Because, when it was rebuilt on land that had been pushed up from the seabed, it was designed by an architect very much in thrall with Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art Deco scene. Lucian’s piece reminded me of what it feels like to suddenly be unmoored from the comfort and security of being ‘grounded’ in one’s environment. When the ground begins to violently shake, you realize that your whole existence has been resting on a mirage. It is a very sobering experience. Which….is why I drink. (LOL!)
Our son, a recent high school grad from back east, experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake in the Bay Area in 1989. He had just gotten off a bus when it hit, and I so remember his shaking voice describing the concrete “waves” in the sidewalk that went on for what seemed like forever. I like living where that doesn’t happen!
So Lucian, that was an awful earthquake but Loma Prieta was horrible for us. It was in 1989. The Battle of the Bay was playing on tv. My husband was parked on the couch watching the game while I took my oldest daughter to her gymnastics class. At that time, I drove a 1967 Volvo and had just placed my 7 month old baby in her car seat that was in the car. I had the door opened, one foot on the curb, the other on the sidewalk. Suddenly, I noticed my car was moving back and forth. I looked up and saw all of the trees, bushes, and power poles were swaying in succession with one another. A transformer blew out. I pulled the baby out of the car and ran to the entrance of the gym. There was my oldest daughter standing in the doorway with her friends and her coach. I could see the fans inside were swaying also. My daughter looked at me with a great big smile and said “Mommy, we’re having an earthquake!” It made me happy that she was not totally freaked out. They went back to practicing and I sat under the awning nursing my baby. A few minutes later, my husband pulls up with a very scared look on his face. He told me the quake literally caused him to fall off of the couch. He was worried about us but fortunately we were okay. There were 63 deaths and thousands injured. Buildings collapsed as well as bridges. It has the distinction of being called The Day of Destruction.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for my whole life and have had many earthquake experiences, including the 1994 quake and it was a doozy. But the one that comes to my mind reading this was the one in 1971 when my family lived in Malibu. The building was built on stilts over the ocean and the waves would crash underneath the pilings below the building. It was in the night and suddenly the whole building was swaying back and forth. My sister ran into my bedroom to get me, but we soon realized that it would take some doing to get down the stairs to our apartment and get out onto PCH. It seemed to last forever and had a rolling motion that was damn scary. But the 1994 earthquake was of a more violent nature and the condo where I lived was in Santa Monica. One of those areas of sandy soil that Lucian mentioned and not good at all! The building ended up needing $500,000 of structural repairs. I was relieved that after 2 years of nagging my fellow homeowners about securing earthquake insurance, they had finally agreed and we had coverage - a miracle! The funny part of the story is that my same sister, who lived in San Diego at the time, happened to be staying with me that night. We got to take the big ride and didn’t know what would happen next!
Makes the earthquake we felt just slightly in NYC not worth mentioning,
But you talk about houses with huge boulders for foundations . Manhattan, of course, has a great rock underpinning which makes possible our skyscrapers ( great word).
Great memories. I wasn't surprised to read that America's preeminent Christian theologian, Marjorie Taylor Greene, says that this quake is coupled with the eclipse, rains and floods, as signs of G-d's displeasure with the United States of America. Margie, baby, when you look in the mirror, what, if anything, do you see?
Once, I was on the golf course when an earthquake hit. The fairway rose up like a wave and then the wave moved away from me until it subsided. I will never forget that experience. We are all just fleas on the earth's skin.
Nice visuals, Lucian. Been in 2, The word that comes to mind is the disorientation of both time and space. And personally discovered the body/mind continues to be in that state after the ground and water settle back to normal.
It's only recently has some in the science community come to understand the Blue Marble is alive alive oh. Emphasis-some.
Hoomankind's maltreatment of the Blue Marble is in the same set of holy books that said don't build on sand and also said the Blue Marble is hoomankind's to do with it as it pleases. Is the holy books' version of the porn industry's free-use.
When I lived in Anchorage, I developed a healthy respect for the tremors that shook us periodically, especially after exploring Earthquake Park there, seeing some of the remaining damage and learning about :
"The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 pm AKST on Good Friday, March 27. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 131 deaths.The earthquake was the largest in US history (magnitude 9.2 on the Richter scale) and the second largest ever recorded in the world. 1 Historical reports show that 115 people in Alaska died and an estimated 40-50 hospitalizations occurred for severe injuries."
Ah, yes, I, too, have lived through California quakes AND fires! My very first earthquake, however, I erroneously thought I had caused. (I know. I know.) I was making microwave popcorn in the little kitchen at the Bel-Air hotel when I felt the building shake and thought OMG, what have I done? Then I happened to look out the window to see a swaying bellman trying to not drop a tray. Then I turned on the television to see many firetrucks and police cars on the street. The anchor helpfully said it's a CA. rule that when there's an earthquake, all emergency vehicles leave their garages so they won't be trapped inside should the buildings collapse.
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
We lived in Thousand Oaks in 1994 and the earthquake was really devastating. I remember standing under the front door header during an aftershock and watching our one-ton truck, which was parked in the driveway, shaking and rocking. Fortunately we didn’t have any damage to our house. Coincidentally, my sister, who lives in northern New Jersey near Newton, had been visiting us in Santa Barbara years before and experienced an earthquake then, so she was aware of what was happening. She did say it sounded like a freight train…
And don't forget I was 3 months pregnant with our first baby, Lilly. I was terrified that something would happen to her. Once we got out on the street and confirmed that all our neighbors had their gas valves turned off, my OBGYN called me to tell me that women miscarry in these extreme situations. She told me to breathe deeply and lie down. Worry about the damage later. Dr. Matsanaga called all of her pregnant patients to tell them what to do to mitigate a miscarriage. I loved her for that. Mind over matter will save your baby. I am forever grateful to Dr. Matsanaga for caring enough to call me. Lilly is now 29 and healthy as a horse. (and btw, that was just after the Rodney King riots that were just down the street from our house and the rioters were marching into our canyon) Dr. Matsanaga walked me through all those threats and disasters and I produced a gorgeous 10 lb. baby girl. I'll never forget her.
Good to be back in the saddle with you. Somehow my paid account got suspended and l stopped receiving posts!
After several days of complaining to a very nice robot, it seems that I’ve be reinstated.
My daughter, Ariana moved out to the West Coast about 16 years ago for graduate school in LA. We were concerned about @the Big One”, but she was prepared. With her teaching stipend she bought an apartment in the reconverted Singer Sewing Machine Factory and managed to survive the loneliness of COVID isolation. I suggested she set up her tent in the living room and the bedroom swing and big-screen TV were already in place.
Fortunately because she had adopted a small dog, Fox, she was permitted outside while everyone else was quarantined!
Two years ago Ariana moved back in the East Coast for employment and rented out her apartment in LA. She was teaching high school in the Bronx when the students chairs started shaking on Friday, April 5th! That was it! You just never know what life has to offer!
Let’s not obsess about perceived and actual threats, and be prepared for anything! And for goodness sake, exercise your patience and our appreciate our versatility. It could always be worse!
Thanks for this memory, Lucian. When I moved back to my homeland, New Zealand, in 1985 it was to a country which its first human inhabitants, the Maori, who arrived by canoe from Polynesia less than 800 years ago, spoke about being a land which the gods had hauled up from the depths of the ocean. Like a lot of so-called ‘primitive mythology,’ they were not wrong. The landform the Maori call ‘Aotearoa’ is the result of the clashing of two tectonic plates: the Pacific plate and the Australian. As the Pacific plate dives under the Australian, that geological action produces some of the most severe earthquakes in the world. In my time there I was to become quite accustomed to seeing buildings sway and feel the ground rocking and rolling beneath me. However, given that earthquakes have been a matter of record for as long as humans have been there, it should also be noted that New Zealand is in the forefront of building structures that are designed to be earthquake resistant. Given that the country experiences between 14-15,000(!) earthquakes a year of which maybe 200 are large enough to be felt, it is something that government takes very seriously. The deadliest earthquake on record in New Zealand was in 1931 when the cities of Napier and Hastings were basically flattened, causing the deaths of over of over 250 people. This accounts for Napier being known today as ‘The Art Deco Capital of the World.’ How so? Because, when it was rebuilt on land that had been pushed up from the seabed, it was designed by an architect very much in thrall with Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art Deco scene. Lucian’s piece reminded me of what it feels like to suddenly be unmoored from the comfort and security of being ‘grounded’ in one’s environment. When the ground begins to violently shake, you realize that your whole existence has been resting on a mirage. It is a very sobering experience. Which….is why I drink. (LOL!)
Wow, felt like I was there. Great piece, as usual.
Our son, a recent high school grad from back east, experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake in the Bay Area in 1989. He had just gotten off a bus when it hit, and I so remember his shaking voice describing the concrete “waves” in the sidewalk that went on for what seemed like forever. I like living where that doesn’t happen!
So Lucian, that was an awful earthquake but Loma Prieta was horrible for us. It was in 1989. The Battle of the Bay was playing on tv. My husband was parked on the couch watching the game while I took my oldest daughter to her gymnastics class. At that time, I drove a 1967 Volvo and had just placed my 7 month old baby in her car seat that was in the car. I had the door opened, one foot on the curb, the other on the sidewalk. Suddenly, I noticed my car was moving back and forth. I looked up and saw all of the trees, bushes, and power poles were swaying in succession with one another. A transformer blew out. I pulled the baby out of the car and ran to the entrance of the gym. There was my oldest daughter standing in the doorway with her friends and her coach. I could see the fans inside were swaying also. My daughter looked at me with a great big smile and said “Mommy, we’re having an earthquake!” It made me happy that she was not totally freaked out. They went back to practicing and I sat under the awning nursing my baby. A few minutes later, my husband pulls up with a very scared look on his face. He told me the quake literally caused him to fall off of the couch. He was worried about us but fortunately we were okay. There were 63 deaths and thousands injured. Buildings collapsed as well as bridges. It has the distinction of being called The Day of Destruction.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for my whole life and have had many earthquake experiences, including the 1994 quake and it was a doozy. But the one that comes to my mind reading this was the one in 1971 when my family lived in Malibu. The building was built on stilts over the ocean and the waves would crash underneath the pilings below the building. It was in the night and suddenly the whole building was swaying back and forth. My sister ran into my bedroom to get me, but we soon realized that it would take some doing to get down the stairs to our apartment and get out onto PCH. It seemed to last forever and had a rolling motion that was damn scary. But the 1994 earthquake was of a more violent nature and the condo where I lived was in Santa Monica. One of those areas of sandy soil that Lucian mentioned and not good at all! The building ended up needing $500,000 of structural repairs. I was relieved that after 2 years of nagging my fellow homeowners about securing earthquake insurance, they had finally agreed and we had coverage - a miracle! The funny part of the story is that my same sister, who lived in San Diego at the time, happened to be staying with me that night. We got to take the big ride and didn’t know what would happen next!
Thank you for the earthquake story.
Makes the earthquake we felt just slightly in NYC not worth mentioning,
But you talk about houses with huge boulders for foundations . Manhattan, of course, has a great rock underpinning which makes possible our skyscrapers ( great word).
Great memories. I wasn't surprised to read that America's preeminent Christian theologian, Marjorie Taylor Greene, says that this quake is coupled with the eclipse, rains and floods, as signs of G-d's displeasure with the United States of America. Margie, baby, when you look in the mirror, what, if anything, do you see?
Once, I was on the golf course when an earthquake hit. The fairway rose up like a wave and then the wave moved away from me until it subsided. I will never forget that experience. We are all just fleas on the earth's skin.
Nice visuals, Lucian. Been in 2, The word that comes to mind is the disorientation of both time and space. And personally discovered the body/mind continues to be in that state after the ground and water settle back to normal.
It's only recently has some in the science community come to understand the Blue Marble is alive alive oh. Emphasis-some.
Hoomankind's maltreatment of the Blue Marble is in the same set of holy books that said don't build on sand and also said the Blue Marble is hoomankind's to do with it as it pleases. Is the holy books' version of the porn industry's free-use.
When I lived in Anchorage, I developed a healthy respect for the tremors that shook us periodically, especially after exploring Earthquake Park there, seeing some of the remaining damage and learning about :
"The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 pm AKST on Good Friday, March 27. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 131 deaths.The earthquake was the largest in US history (magnitude 9.2 on the Richter scale) and the second largest ever recorded in the world. 1 Historical reports show that 115 people in Alaska died and an estimated 40-50 hospitalizations occurred for severe injuries."
Thanks Lucian. Fascinating ... (from a country with our fair share of earthquakes) and beautifully written, as usual.
Ah, yes, I, too, have lived through California quakes AND fires! My very first earthquake, however, I erroneously thought I had caused. (I know. I know.) I was making microwave popcorn in the little kitchen at the Bel-Air hotel when I felt the building shake and thought OMG, what have I done? Then I happened to look out the window to see a swaying bellman trying to not drop a tray. Then I turned on the television to see many firetrucks and police cars on the street. The anchor helpfully said it's a CA. rule that when there's an earthquake, all emergency vehicles leave their garages so they won't be trapped inside should the buildings collapse.