The Earth Shook and My Heart Quaked

My experience with the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake

Timing Can Be the Difference between Life and Death

At 11:10 in the morning I was about to meet a customer in my book warehouse at 11:30. It was only a short walk from the house. I had just come down from my office/bedroom upstairs.

On my way out I stopped to talk to my husband beside the buffet in the kitchen near the sliding glass door that led outside. I was about to head out that door to the shed that served as my warehouse. While we stood there talking, the earth began to shake.

It seemed the shaking went on forever, but in fact, it only lasted about a minute. Books started to fall from bookcases downstairs. Upstairs in the hall that led to my office, the bookcases lining the walls all fell down, spilling the books on their shelves onto the floor. They blocked the door to my office, the bathroom, and the other bedroom. Had I still been in my office upstairs, I would have been trapped. There was no window to the outside in that room.

Had I gotten to the shed to prepare for my customer, I probably would have been badly injured or even dead. It was full of tall loaded bookcases. Large crates of books were displayed on a long gondola near the door. There was barely room to walk through between the boxes and bookcases. It would have been almost impossible for anyone to get the door open were it to be blocked unless they took the hinges off. There were no windows. It was a converted agricultural outbuilding a friend had given us when he had to move into town. The scene below was just one aisle. The others had taller bookcases.

I was very glad that neither I nor my customer was in that building when the quake struck. I never took anyone in there again.

About three miles north as the crow flies, a building fell in downtown Paso Robles and landed on two women escaping from it. They were killed by the building they worked in. When the earthquake was over, it had reached 6.6 on the Richter scale.

The downtown buildings, including the one that fell, have been rebuilt since 2003. This is the new building that replaced the one that killed the women. It looks very much like the one that collapsed. Here in Paso Robles, we call it the Acorn Building. I guess you can see why.

The video below shows the original building before the earthquake, just after the earthquake, and as it is today. You can see the color scheme has changed, but it’s the acorn shape of the clock tower that people care about.

Earthquakes Weren’t New to Me

When the earthquake struck, I’d lived in California all of my sixty years. I had experienced countless earthquakes while living in Southern California for the first half of my life. The shaking was something to laugh about most of the time. I’d never been hurt or had a damaged home. I’d seen pictures get crooked and hanging lights swing, but that’s about it. I wasn’t afraid of earthquakes.

I took them a bit more seriously after seeing freeways fall on cars when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit the Oakland area in 1989. I don’t think any Californian will forget those images. Later I saw photos of the damage inflicted by the Northridge earthquake in 1994. Still, I wasn’t afraid. I guess I considered bad earthquakes things that happened to people in other places — not to me. Until 2003. Since then I’ve never looked at earthquakes the same way again.

Cleaning up After an Earthquake

We were fortunate that our house didn’t collapse or suffer structural damage. If the earthquake had to happen, it couldn’t have come at a better time. It was three days before Christmas. We had celebrated our Slava on December 19 and had several guests in our home.

My mother had been temporarily living in a senior residence for a ninety-day trial to see if she wanted to stay there. It was only a few miles from her home in Paso Robles and mine in Templeton. Since my brother and his family were visiting her for the holidays, she had moved back home so she could spend more time with her son and grandchildren. That left her apartment free for me to sleep in until I could get into my bedroom at home and clean it up. They even provided my meals there. My husband slept on the first floor at home and we were able to get his room clear enough for him to use right away.

My brother and his teenage son helped me clear the hallway that led to my bedroom and get the bookcases back where they belonged. That enabled me to get the books off the floor and back on the shelves. I could finally walk down the hall to the bathroom. My own bedroom was still inaccessible. The family friend and neighbor who had given us the shed where I kept most of my book merchandise helped me get into my bedroom.

The house is a converted barn. One enters the house from the front door. The staircase is to the left of the door. The outside wall is on one side of it and the wall of my bedroom is on the other side. Each has a window. One opens to the outside and the other opens to my room. Our friend somehow climbed through that window so he could get into the room to move the file cabinets that had fallen against the door. Then he took the door off its hinges and took it outside. I have never put that door back on. I’ve been afraid to.

By the time my brother went home and my mom moved back into her apartment, I had my bedroom back in shape to sleep in. I got the phone back on the hook. It had been shaken off during the earthquake.

We had cleaned up the items that had broken when the kitchen cupboards spilled their contents. We had put what was still intact away. I was thankful the buffet in the kitchen had not fallen and that nothing inside had broken. While we were still cleaning up, we ate at my mom’s with the family until my brother took his family home.

There were still a lot of books to put away in the back bedroom I used for getting books ready to ship. But I could use my bedroom office again and sleep there at night. We went on with our lives and friends helped me reorganize the book shed and get it functional again so I could get back to selling books.

A New Attitude Toward Earthquakes

I know now that a bad earthquake can happen where I live. I’ve not forgotten the close call I had in 2003. Had I been where I had planned to be when the quake struck, I might have been badly injured. Quakes come with no warning. Most damage happens fast. But as those who were struck today in Ridgecrest, California learned, earthquakes don’t end as quickly as they start. The aftershocks can be even worse. The latest quake today was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake.

When the shaking stops, one can’t just utter a sigh of relief and go on with life. They say the aftershocks from today’s quake could go on for years. Many will have to find new homes. I understand there was at least one death in today’s quake. There were fires. Ridgecrest will be cleaning up for a long time. And in the midst of their work, they will still be experiencing the aftershocks and wondering if a worse quake will hit them.

That being said, I’d still rather take my chances here in California with earthquakes than to deal with high winds and floods where they have tornadoes and hurricanes. The truth is that no place is completely safe.

There is not much any of us can do about that. We can do our best to prepare for whatever nature may throw at us. Beyond that, I will put myself in the hands of my Creator and trust him with my life. Worry never helped any situation. I’d rather pray than worry.

Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7 PHILLIPS)