When the earthquake struck Friday, supervisors and...

When the earthquake struck Friday, supervisors and managers in the RTD’s offices picked up their special red emergency phones and heard these taped instructions:

“We are all doomed. Drop your pants and kiss your ass goodby.”

As you might guess, these discouraging words did not come from the top, but from a still-unknown saboteur.

(For the record, most of the employees in the downtown headquarters elected, instead, to run outside.)

“Our general manager has instructed that a thorough investigation be made into the incident,” said RTD spokesman Rick Jager. “It was a poor practical joke at an inopportune time.”

Are We Doomed or Just Disliked?:

On the vehemence-of-bad-feelings scale, Seattle seems more anti-Angeleno these days than New York or San Francisco, as an article in Lear’s magazine illustrates. The publication mentions that “a woman newly arrived from Southern California placed a personal ad in the Seattle Weekly, hoping to meet fellow Californians.”

And what happened?

“She was besieged by calls from angry Seattle natives telling her in no uncertain terms to go back where she came from.”

List of the Day:

One bit of folklore holds that earthquakes are more likely to hit near sunrise or sunset when the gravitational tug of the sun upon the Earth is strongest. Whatever the reason(s), most of Southern California’s major quakes since 1857, including last Friday’s Sierra Madre shaker (7:43 a.m.), have adhered to a morning/evening schedule.

Other dates, magnitudes and striking times of the Almost Big Ones:

1--Tejon, 1857, at least 7.7, about 8 a.m.

2--Northwest of L.A., 1893, at least 6, 11:40 a.m.

3--Imperial Valley, 1915, (two) at least 6.0, 7:59 p.m. and 8:56 p.m.

4--Santa Barbara, 1925, 6.3, 6:42 a.m.

5--Long Beach, 1933, 6.3, 5:54 p.m.

6--Brawley, 1940, 7.1, 8:37 p.m.

7--Sylmar, 1971, 6.6, 6 a.m.

8--Imperial Valley, 1979, 6.4, 4:16 p.m.

9--Whittier, 1987, 5.9, 7:42 a.m.

10--Upland, 1990, 5.5, 3:43 p.m.

You knew someone had to do it. No sooner had the Sierra Madre quake sideswiped the front window of a Pasadena car dealership than the owner announced a special event (see photo).

Oh yes. We’re a day late, but: Happy Fiscal New Year!

miscelLAny:

One of the LAPD’s veteran sergeants is named Jesse James.