February 9, 1971 Where were you?

It's the anniversary of the Sylmar earthquake.   I had to think what it was called, as to me for the longest time it was just the Earthquake.

The quake was at 6:01 am.  I was still in bed, awakened when my bed, which was on casters as many beds used to be, rolled halfway across the bedroom and back.  I remember hearing my mother SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER in the kitchen.  She had gotten up to start breakfast.  She CLAIMED she was trying to "wake us up"- me and my sister.  Uh. Right Mom.

I was twelve and in the 7th grade at Pacoima Junior High.  They did not become Middle Schools until I was well out of the school system.   I had NO idea what an earthquake even WAS, although at some point in my school life we must have discussed the Great San Francisco Quake.

It took twelve seconds, but it seemed like an eternity.  I read that the Alaska earthquake in 1964 was 4.5 MINUTES.  I can't imagine that.  Every time we have an earthquake, I wonder how long till the shaking stops.

We got up and surveyed the damage in the house.  Thankfully, the houses in my part of the Valley are wood-frame and they gave with the quake, which was a rolling one.  if it had been a slip-strike jolt it might have been worse than it was.

Still, my mother did not believe a natural disaster was ANY reason for me to skip school and  she made me take a shower int he dark and head off for school about a mile and a half away.  I got about four blocks when my friend Jimmy's family stopped me and told me school was closed.  I told them my mom would not believe it, and they let me try to call her.  Phone lines were down but I reached her and she said to come home.

My school gym was an evacuation center and school was closed for a week.  The only real damage to our house was a dent int the counter where a large bottle of some variety fell off the top shelf of the liquor cabinet.

My next door neighbor was a nurse at Olive View- the hospital that came down and she told humorous stories of herself and her co-worker trying to get in a doorway or in the case of her co-worker under the sink which cam off the wall on top of her.  I suppose it was scary but they made it sound funny.

They evacuated areas around the Van Norman Dam in Granada Hills and there was a lot of damage in neighborhoods not near my own.  As a kid, it was a grand adventure.

Earthquakes can be scary.  It's how we react to them that is important.  The City tells us we may be on our own for as long as three days and we need to be prepared for that.  I am not quite sure that I am- I'm close- but maybe today I need to look at my preparedness kit.