Today, I chose the prompt, Earthquake! Where were you when it happened? So, here it is!
We are living in Antioch, California. I am 6. It's October 17, 1989. I don't remember the day. I remember it is late afternoon. My brother is glued in front of Sesame Street. I am at the kitchen table doing homework. I am crying because I just saw my friend's walking to the playground that is in our apartment complex, and I want to go too. My mother tells me I need to finish my homework. I cry louder. This is ineffective.
I hear a loud buzzing noise. I look at the TV. Hmm...That's weird. It switches from snow to Big Bird and back to snow. Then, it happens. The snow comes back, and it's insanely loud. Then the floor rolls. It feels like I'm sitting on a water bed and someone has just jumped on the other end. My chair slides across the kitchen floor and slams into the wall, dropping me to the floor. Cabinets are opening and closing and dishes are rattling. Glasses fall off of the counter and shatter. My dad runs into the kitchen and grabs me from my chair, and I see my mom grabbing my brother. They shove themselves into the doorway of our apartment, their arms and bodies protectively covering our heads. My friend's mother comes flying out of her apartment screaming her name and running towards the playground...And it all happened in less than 20 seconds.
Our television was out until the next day, so we didn't see how much damage was really caused, but in walking around out apartment complex, there were cracks in the sidewalks and in the parking lot. The slide on the playground lost a couple of screws. When I went to school, there were cracks on the floor in our classroom and jars of art supplies were spilled across the floor. A can of paint had fallen and was spilled across several desks (one of them was mine) and across the floor. When we did watch the news, they showed the Oakland Bay Bridge with it's collapsed portion and the damage in San Francisco repeatedly. It was scary.
But, here I am, telling the tale. Now I live in Wisconsin, which is Earthquake free...And I enjoy that.
If you want to know more about the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 you can go here.
2 comments:
Visiting from Mama Kat's...I wrote about the same earthquake. I enjoyed reading your story, so strange to relive it through other's eyes.
Take care!
coming from mama kat's. good thing both of your parents were home when it happened. the worst thing when an earthquake that big is to worry about loved ones who werent there with you...
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