Happy 40th Anniversary to the Sylmar Earthquake (Orange, Burbank: apartment, how much)

[Canine*Castle]

40 years ago today, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley in California where I was living. I had just moved out of my parent's home on February 1 and into my own apartment on Santa Anita above Glenoaks in Burbank. It was a very scary event which occurred just seconds before my alarm clock was set to go off at 6:00 a.m. There is nothing like being awakened by a building shaking, shelf items falling on my head, electrical transformers popping all around, and blood-curdling screams by the lady living below me. I just knew I'd better scramble down the stairs of my two-story apartment building. She scared me more than the quake itself ... sort of!! The many aftershocks went on for months, but they lessened in intensity and frequency as the weeks passed. 40 years later, California still hasn't fallen into the Pacific. Imagine that! ;o)

[DewDropInn]

I cannot believe that it's been 40 years. I was in high school in Orange County. It was the hardest shaking I'd ever felt, as a native of the Southland, up to that point. Items fell off shelves, pictures on the walls went crooked and the cat went nuts. I had first-period P.E. When we walked into the gym we saw a floor full of ceiling tiles. The gym teacher told us to go in and pick them up. I told her she was nuts and told my friends not to do it. I knew an aftershock would bring more down on our heads. (One hit about 15 minutes later and did, indeed, bring down the rest of the ceiling.)

I had a friend who lived in Sylmar at the time. He was thrown out of bed and slammed into the wall across the room. His family's house had major damage.

[Fontucky]

Wow, your high school started early.

[Charles]

Yep. I was nine and a half years old living in Canoga Park. The windows rattling was the scary part. Schools were closed and I distinctly remember how warm and breezy it was that day - just like it was for the 94 Northridge quake.

Forty years ago.








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-xIeo2UvbE

[nmnita]

well I was older than any of you, but 40 years younger than I am today.

We lived in Altadena, my sister was a nurse at the VA hospital. That was a day like no other in our lives. Hubby actually went to work and I sent the kids to school, as did our neighbor. I think they were almost the only ones that were there.

Nita

[CamaroGuy]

I was nearly 6 but I remember it clearly. The quake of 1994 was a bit stronger though.

[Curmudgeon]

How time flies when you're having fun. I was living in Whittier at the time, working nights and going to college during the day. I'd just gotten home and upstairs to the bedroom when it hit, a floor-to-ceiling set of shelves loaded with books came off the wall and headed towards the bed where my then wife was lying. I grabbed the shelves and pulled them away from her and onto myself then dashed into the other bedroom, scooped up our infant son (hard to believe he's 40 now) and we headed downstairs to relative safety.

When it all ended we discovered a 15 foot crack in the bedroom wall where the shelves had been. It was quite a wake-me-up even after having been up all night.

[Fontucky]

I slept through it, but I was way down in Capo Beach.

[SandyCo]

I was seven years old and living in La Canada. The shaking woke me up, but I was annoyed that only one thing fell over in my room! (As a seven year old, earthquakes were exciting and fun, not really scary.) The fish tank sloshed water all over in the living room. A ceiling light cover fell and exploded at my dad's feet. Our poor housekeeper was so terrified that she wouldn't move from the doorway all day, and she soon fled back to Guatemala (where they also have earthquakes! ).

I had a mirror hanging next to my bed; it took up almost the entire length of the wall. I'm lucky that didn't fall on me!

I didn't go to school that day; I'm pretty sure my school was closed.

Of course, it wasn't until I got older that I really "got it" and understood how much damage had been sustained. That was "The Earthquake" until Northridge 23 years later.