Happy 13th Anniversary to all my fellow survivors of Northridge earthquake.

[blm]

Though the knee will never do well, I still consider myself fortunate to be alive.

And in remembrance of our neighbors who didn't make it through.

A toast to us all.

[Beaverhausen]

1. Oh god. has it been 13 years?

A toast to us.

I didn't lose much in the way of possessions (a lamp, a couple of wine glasses I think was it) I had Post traumatic stress pretty majorly for 6 months- slept on my couch with the TV and lights on, slept for about 2 years with my shoes, purse, keys by my bed. I probably should still do that.

:hug:

[blm]

2. Anything that could break DID break in my neighborhood.

I still have vertigo problems, but not as much. And the PTS barely rears its head anymore. Better go knock on wood. ;)

[Hugin]

3. I was in a meeting with...

Two guys who had taken off from the airport right as it happened. They said the pilot
came on over the PA and said, "Ground Control says there's been an earthquake."

One of them told me they looked out the window and saw a wall of dust moving out
across the area... It was like a ripple.

We made arrangements for them to contact their families and canceled the rest of
the meeting.

Congratulations for being a survivor!

[blm]

4. That dust remained in the air for a year.

I had forgotten about that aspect of it.

[Karenina]

5. The waterbed bounced my butt onto the floor

from which I couldn't get up because the ground had liquefied making the wood floor look like waves... It was 4 a.m. and I thought I was having a flashback until the noise became deafening and the stench of snapping power lines filled the air. THEN the walls began to crack. I thought it was GAME OVER. Left the country some weeks later.

[blm]

6. Most violent experience in my life, and I had been through many earthquakes before.

I was fairly close to the epicenter - where were you?

[Karenina]

8. In Santa Monica

There was a plaque on the entrance of the video store we frequented:

"This building is constructed of unreinforced masonry which may be unsafe in the event of an earthquake."

We drove by the next day and the entire building was flattened. PANCAKED.

[JuniperLea]

7. I was living in Long Beach... aka Liquefaction City

All the neighborhood kids used to hitch a ride to school with mine, so when it hit, half a dozen kids came pouring into my house... all the books were off their shelves (hundreds of them), the water bottle was on the kitchen floor creating mud as it mingled with the house plants, also on the floor. Dishes broke... pictures fell off walls and broke... nerves were rattled raw... but everyone was ok. The wood in my circa 1928 house was petrified and didn't budge. I had just finished the EQ retrofit on the foundation a month earlier.

I had a radio producer friend in Northridge at the time and all I could think about was the massive picture windows in his house. It was several days before I was able to get in touch with him... the foundation was fine but the house was gone. Everyone ok.

Thanking God for all who survived... asking for comfort for those who lost so much more.

[blm]

9. Wow - that was timely on the retrofit.

I was in North Hills right next to Northridge. We slept outside for a few days, but never really slept until we could get one room cleared out and mattresses placed all around. The aftershocks were THAT bad that you had to be prepared for anything.

I had 13 rescued cats and dogs stay in that room with us those next two weeks till the house got cleaned out from all the broken glass. We had no water or electricity for a week so cleaning up was extremely difficult, plus I had alot of knee damage. So - not much fun.

[JuniperLea]

10. Good on your for taking care of the animals through all that!

Camping out in your own house must have been strange. Glad you came through it all!