Kids and Pets Roll With It

“Grandma, your house is broken!” That was 3-year-old Paul’s 4:32 a.m. assessment of damage, even as the house continued to rattle and roll with aftershocks.

Evelyn Borden

Woodland Hills

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Our 4-year-old granddaughter, Sasha, was living with us at the time of the 1994 earthquake. Just a week before, I had her on my knees and told her we sometimes have earthquakes. I demonstrated by bouncing her up and down a few times.

When the quake hit, she yelled out, “Put on your seat belts!” When it was all over, I explained what had happened. She said, “That was not a quake, it was a crash!”

Vic Spencer

Northridge

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As soon as I felt the shake, I opened my eyes and I saw the TV on my legs. I ran to put my pants on and I went outside with my mom. My mom was rubbing her stomach because the heater fell on it. She was pregnant at the time. When the sun came out, I went back into my house. At that time, we were living in a trailer and the supports collapsed.

Erika Maciel, 13

San Fernando

*

I was asleep when it happened. My mom went to get my brothers from their room. We put our shoes on and we drove to my aunt’s house. Some houses were burning. Now I sleep with a first aid kit and a flashlight under my bed.

Nancy Chavez, 12

Sylmar

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My twins were just 54 hours old when the earthquake struck. I had been having a slow recovery from an emergency C-section when all of a sudden, my room shifted to my right. My bed was tossed about so madly that I had to consciously hold onto the mattress in order to not crush my hands when the bed hit the sides of the room.

I forgot about the C-section and jumped out of bed and ran to the nursery. The bassinets were all over the room, but miraculously, all were still upright!

The nurse began calling out the names of the infants, and when they called “Gould,” I grabbed one and anxiously looked around for the other baby.

After finally getting both, carrying one under each arm, I rushed down five flights of stairs to the safety of the parking lot below.

Meanwhile, my husband was awakened by the quake at our Calabasas home. He had no idea how extensive the damage was, so he made himself breakfast, walked our dog and an hour later, showed up to retrieve his bed-linen-clad family.

He had assumed that a hospital was the safest place to be, not knowing then that the hospital sat on the quake’s epicenter.

Five years later, much of the fear has ebbed but I still recall it as the day my twins shook up my world.

Susan Spector Gould

Calabasas

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The water splashed from our pool and went roaring around the sides of the house.

We had an ancient cat who was sleeping in the abandoned doghouse. The water slammed into the doghouse.

When we finally found that cat, it was very bad-tempered for quite a while.

Anne Whiteman

Red Bluff, Calif.

formerly of Northridge

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ON THE WEB

More letters from readers sharing earthquake memories can be found on the Times web site at http://pyxis.nohib.com./valleyquake.