This will only make sense to other native Angelenos, but I was in Louisiana on the day of the Northridge quake, and was pissed that I missed it.
Windman, I hear you. I was living in Switzerland at the time, and was watching cnn international. Before the sun came up there was NO INFO other than that there was a bad quake with epicenter near where every loved one of mine lived. They were showing aerial DARKNESS of the SF Valley. The best way to describe that feeling I had is like being an astronaut on the moon and seeing the planet earth just blow up. I felt I couldn’t breathe until they finally got a call to work. I was calling every second but phones were not working.
I pulled the passenger seat out of my car and went on a 9 day car camping journey of seeking the aftershocks, sleeping at Northridge and a few days in Big Bear seeing the people in a state of shock, chasing the ones out in that little desert town (don’t remember the names of the towns).
There was still plenty to see, to experience, and to learn from.
Plenty of small damage was coming from the after shocks and you still had to park away from popping roof tiles for instance , but I did learn how different the experience was for people in close proximity to each other.
In the heart of the worst hit areas, you could spend a couple of days and feel that you were in a war zone, with exhaustion and trauma, and stress being the norm, but then you could drive a mile away to buy groceries or gas, and everything, and everybody was completely normal and routine.
In Big Bear all the chimneys were down and people were sleeping in their cars, but the constant aftershocks were keeping them from getting any sleep and they were exhausted, I was in their main bar which was fairly crowded, and at one point I stomped the wood floor to create a noise and vibration, I will always regret doing that, even the males all looked scared, it was real fear, a submissive defeated fear, and I learned that sustained exposure to constant stress and fear of that nature can weaken people’s resistance to a point where they seem to break.
Hurricanes are truly exciting and invigorating to people, but a couple of weeks of earthquake and aftershock seems to have an effect similar to war to the population.
Trust me....don’t feel pissed.
Being close to the epicenter, I can tell you it was nothing I ever want to experience again. Best way I can describe it was a complete feeling of helplessness, unable to move due to the violence of the shaking while hearing things crashing around you, all in complete darkness.
Took me about an hour, normally a 10 minute drive, to get to elderly loved ones. On the way, I saw things I will never forget.
Be happy you were in Louisiana.
I’m from Texas and I was one mile from the epicenter of the quake. You can have my experiences... gladly.