Earthquake

I have always tried to be prepared for earthquakes. Twenty years after I made a big deal about preparedness, our kids still (good naturedly) chide me. Early attempts at 'earthquake kits' for all the cars, and for provisions in the home have long ago been abandoned. I do still have some special tools (like 'pull-alongs') in the garage that have never been used.

We talked about procedures to gather the whole family--like using some person out of the area as a central communication clearing-house.

But, today, I got caught unprepared. At 11:42am today, I was talking to the VP of engineering of my largest client (in a glass walled room overlooking the manufacturing floor) when the shaking began. Big time shaking. Stacked items were falling on the manufacturing floor. But no glass broke around us. We all got out of the building quickly. We were about 15 miles from the epicenter of a magnitude 5.4 earthquake. I immediately got in my car and started home. The freeways were fairly clear. But I had to go directly thru the epicenter area to get home--where my wife Marya and young grandson Clayton were. My cellphone was useless. Frantic and repeated calls failed to complete.

I was prepared to go the long way around, but relied upon the radio reports in deciding to take the direct route directly over the the epicenter. This is a helpless feeling. I am watching pavement--and bridges--very carefully for any breach or potential problem.

Then my cellphone rings! I answer quickly hoping it is Marya. Nope. My mother is calling from Sacramento--500 miles away--to find out if everybody is OK. This is only about 15 minutes after the earthquake.

I cannot place a call, but my mother got thru! I gave her as much info as I had and almost pleaded that she try to get in contact with Marya. About 7-8 minutes later, my mother reports in that she got thru to Marya--everybody is fine, and no damage.

Time to take a breath. And slow down. That little Saturn was not complaining, but I would not have noticed anyway.

I get home about 10 minutes later. With the exception of Marya's Excursion parked on the driveway rather inside the garage, everything was disgustingly normal!

Inside, we cannot get a phone dial-tone, but surprisingly, internet DSL service was normal. Our daughter and son-in-law independently called to verify their son's and Marya's safety.

Lesson 1: Arrange for an out-of-area person to initiate communication into the earthquake area.

I am so thankful that my mother took it upon herself to keep calling the phone numbers she had to contact one of us. She did not give-up after she tried to call the home, but was determined to verify that things were OK.

Prior to today, if I had been in her position, I probably would have made only a half-hearted attempt and would have given-up after 1 or 2 failed calls. I'm here to tell you that her determined effort gave me great peace of mind. Thank You Mother!

I can only shudder if things had not turned out this well.

Lesson 2: Tether tall furniture items to the wall.

I have been fairly consistent about this in the past, with one exception. Eye-bolts and cord attach nearly every tall piece of furniture to the wall. Only last week, I moved the Grandfather clock to put down a wood floor in the hallway downstairs. While I was exhausted after that several-day effort, I took the time to re-attach the clock to the wall. We did notice that it had danced around during the earthquake.

Marya also uses 'museum wax' to attach breakable items to shelves in display cabinets. This worked too.

The one area where I thought about doing it--rather than actually doing it--was in my office. The bookshelf units are attached to one-another, but not to the walls. This will be rectified very soon.


I Praise God and thank Him for His protection on my family today, and for a mother that cared enough to not give-up too soon.


Don Kolafa