Preparing for the Big Quake

In response to Waiting for the Quake, special section, Nov. 5:

I was raised in Southern California and since kindergarten we had the “under the desk” earthquake drills once a week in school. In the 1933 earthquake that centered in Long Beach, I was 7 years old and living in Huntington Park. When the quake hit, all my training was forgotten and the best I could do was hold on to the back steps where I was sitting. The sheer terror was immobilizing and I felt glued to the steps. Inside our rented home there were broken dishes and glasses and everything ended up in the middle of the rooms. My mother had been frying something for dinner and the hot oil covered the kitchen floor. The house itself was the California bungalow-type so there was little structural damage.

My father had a drug store on the corner of Florence and Pacific. The store was housed in a two-story brick building, and the building was so damaged it was condemned and no one was allowed to enter; my father was not even allowed to salvage the fixtures. I remember standing behind the barricades looking at the ruins and knowing we had lost everything we owned. Our high school burned and the grammar school I attended was also condemned.

A lot of trauma for a 7-year-old and yet here I am, still living in Southern California and still waiting for another big quake. Periodically I ask myself if living with this fear is worth it, but personally I can’t think of any other place that offers the same beauty, excitement and diversity. So I’ll do like everyone else and put together my quake kits and hope the next “big one” is a long, long time off.

DOROTHY CROWLEY

CAVECCHE

Palos Verdes Estates