Hearts of L.A. / How the Quake Rocked Our Spirits and Changed Our Lives : E-Mail From the Edge

In the hours before and after the quake, the information highway became a kind of electronic plaza in which old-fashioned news, anxiety and gossip were exchanged. Here is a sample of how the discussion proceeded.

THE BIG ONE DEBATE

“In the past three days, Santa Monica and Los Angeles have experienced a swarm of minor earthquakes. I think we’re in for a sizable one, if not the Big One. I’m not a seismologist, but I don’t buy the ‘Small quakes relieve the pressure’ theory of earthquake think. Get your water and pocket radios ready.”

Calvin Ogawa

12:52 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 12

*

“I am a seismologist (well, not really, but an earthquake geologist) and small quakes do relieve stress. Although big earthquakes may follow small ones, most small earthquakes do not proceed large ones. Don’t stress out.”

Judy Zachariesen, Caltech

2 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 12

*

“Looks like Cal was right. Hope all are OK.”

Paul Brandt

5:23 a.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

GRANDMA PATROL

“I’m worried about my grandmother. She lives on California Avenue in Santa Monica, five blocks from the ocean.”

Joan Leib

1:33 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“About your grandmother in Santa Monica, some friends who live near her are OK. Depends on what type of building she’s in. I’ll be glad to call her for you. E-Mail me with her number and yours if you want.”

MJK

10:42 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

FUN CITY

“Given the way things are in Los Angeles, we could just leave this message group intact until the next earthquake. By the way, Caltech says this isn’t anywhere near what the Big One would be like.”

Robert L. MacMillan

6:11 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“It takes a strong stomach and a love of adventure to live here. As someone said on the TV news earlier today, ‘The weather here isn’t as good as I thought it was.’ ”

Davis Sternlight

6:25 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

FAMILY MAN

“Does anyone know what’s up in Santa Clarita? I have family out there and have not been able to get a hold of them.”

Jeffrey Nodland

11:15 a.m.

Monday, Jan 17

*

“I work in Valencia and finally got up there today. That whole Valley is a mess. I have not heard of any deaths from that area, so your family is probably all right.”

Greg Linholm

11:59 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

JUST A LITTLE NERVOUS

“I still haven’t heard anything from my son and his fiancee. They are in Chatsworth.”

Mark Jaffe

2:54 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“Your son and his fiancee are very, very nervous but fine. They have no water, no power and no gas. He begged that you call his grandparents and her parents.”

Linday Robeck

4:17 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

TEMPORARY SHELTER

“What is going to happen to this people that has no place to live?”

Perla Alegria, Portugal

12:16 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

*

“People whose homes have been damaged or destroyed are put up in schools, Salvation Army and Red Cross buildings. We try as much as possible to make sure they are comfortable and they are well fed. Pity it always takes some sort of disaster to bring people together.”

John Sheridan

6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

THEORY VERSUS REALITY

“I’m a trained disaster worker, and I know about not calling into a disaster area. I learned, however, that when it’s your 80-year-old father and 72-year-old mother who are at the epicenter, all that is ignored and you call anyway.”

Chuck Linsley

1:05 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

ALL IS WELL

“Has anyone heard from Laguna Beach? My uncle and his family live there. I’m from Canada and have no experience with earthquakes. God be with those in L.A.”

Kerry Williams

1:22 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“My family lives in Laguna Beach. Some shaking, but all is well.”

Chris Barrus

11:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

BRUINS BEAT TROJANS

“Was the UCLA campus affected by the quake?”

Arun, University of Florida

3:02 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“Today’s UCLA Daily Bruin says several buildings suffered minor damages. School is closed. Students seem to be very calm.”

Hua Yang, UCLA

6:15 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

*

“So you had a Daily Bruin on the 18th? The Daily Trojan skipped that day, unlike a real newspaper that would never let a disaster get in the way of publication.”

Susan Biddlecomb, USC

3:32 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

A DEATH DOWNTOWN

“I’ve heard that one of the deaths was a person who fell from a sixth-floor window at a downtown hotel. My best friend is staying on the sixth floor of a downtown hotel and would have been up about 4:30 a.m. I’d appreciate it if anyone’s heard this name and can pass it on.”

Forrest Gotshalk

5:16 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“Today’s Times reports his name as Jose Hernandez. They don’t know if he leaped or fell.”

Linda Robeck

10:52 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

USC FIGHTS ON

“Does anyone know the current status of USC? Everyone OK? Any damage to buildings?”

Richard Miller

6:30 a.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“USC is alive and well. We survived with minimal damage. Fight on.”

Peter Pan

2:55 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 20

SATISFIED CUSTOMER

“I am in Burbank and the quake was quite violent here. Long distance phone lines have been down. But the local netcom number has gone back on-line and I have been able to E-mail my family to let them know I’m OK. As a new Internet user, I’m damned impressed.”

Tim Chambers

6:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“That’s the beauty of the net. It has its own built-in survival mechanism. It’s not really located any one place and has no central nervous system, so you can’t kill it.”

Janis Cortese

7:43 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

A LITTLE LEVITY

“SACRAMENTO--Gov. Pete Wilson announced new legislation today that will put earthquake criminals behind bars for good. The proposal calls for mandatory life sentences without parole for anyone convicted of starting an earthquake that causes any property damage or loss of life. Democratic candidates John Garamendi and Kathleen Brown pledged even higher sentences. ‘Life without parole isn’t good enough for a quake-starter’ said Garamendi. ‘Me too,’ said Brown.”

Michael Stone

7:15 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“I thought this was a referendum we were going to vote on: ‘Three Quakes and You’re Out.’ ”

Eric Rosenthal

9:20 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 17

*

“Not quite laughing my ass off yet, but it was enough to make me smile. It would make a great joke about a week from now.”

Rob Sweet

3:52 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

*

“I don’t think such postings would be appreciated by those who are suffering the damage of the recent earthquake.”

Etienne Buehler

7:45 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

*

“Quite the contrary. We live in Granada Hills and consider ourselves very lucky to have gotten through as well as we did. Mike Stone’s posting gave me the first real laugh I’ve had all week.”

Geoff Kuenning

10:12 a.m.

Friday, Jan. 21

I’M STILL STANDING

“My wife yelled out ‘OMYGODITSTHEBIGONE!’ as it was happening. I said, ‘No, just a little one. We’re still able to stand during the S wave of the quake.”

Daniel J. Karnes

8:55 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

GOOD NEWS

“Please help me find out if my family is OK. I’m trying to find Ricci and Michael Merrick in Canyon Country.”

Randy Mellison

8:12 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

*

“I was able to reach your family and everybody is fine. House is OK.”

Margaret Winter

11:09 a.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

SO IT WAS YOU

“Lost in ecstasy, after an early morning rendezvous, when the quake struck. All I could say was, ‘Honey, it won’t always be this good.’ Now if I could just figure out how the epicenter got to Northridge when I was in West L.A.”

Will Leland

5:24 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

*

“Are you saying that we should send the $30-billion bill to you?”

Rob Topolski

8:00 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

RECOVERY PROCESS

“I was in California when the earthquake hit. I’m 14 and I was afraid I might not live till 15. I’ve even had nightmares about it. How do you get over it?”

Katie Mellor

2:53 p.m.

Wednesday Jan. 19

“The only thing that is going to help is time. Eventually life gets back to normal. It took days before I would go upstairs by myself after the 1989 S.F. quake.”

Paula Vargas

11:11 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 20

“I’m just a little kid who lives in Iowa. I hope I never have to live through an earthquake, but how emotional does it get when one moment you have everything and the next it’s all gone?”

Cory Simmons

9:47 p.m.

Wednesday Jan. 19

“Losing things is just that; they’re only things. What really matters is your family, friends and pets. Our dog, Hillary, sleeps in the garage and Monday morning we couldn’t find her. When it became daylight, we found her behind the washing machine with her nose in the corner. She would not respond when called and we had to pull her out. She’s just fine, but I think she is not as brave as she pretends. The things we lost did not matter to us as much as that durn old dawg.”

Joanne Griffith

5:37 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

LENDING A HAND

“I’m looking for information about my cousin who lives in Sylmar. She lives on Herron Street.”

Barbara Kollhoff

7:46 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

*

“All calls into California have been blocked, but if you could give me a phone number, I’ll try to call your cousin.”

Debbie Fischer

10:35 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19

PRAYER OFFERING

“During the quake, I was on the 20th floor of a high-rise in Downtown L.A. We were swaying so much I could hardly get out of bed. I haven’t slept in four nights, but my heart goes out to all the victims and their families. As we Native Americans say, may Mother Earth rest peacefully.”

Holly Martin

8:55 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 21

*

“We are glad you survived the quake and hope you find peace and can sleep better. We will pray for you and all the other victims and survivors.”

Donna Jungeberg

10:30 a.m.

Saturday, Jan. 22

KEEP YOUR CHIN UP

“Lost my car and apartment. Can’t go to my job. I really need some help. I don’t think I can take it anymore. Every 10 minutes or so we have an aftershock.”

Steven Craig

6:02 a.m.

Thursday, Jan. 20

*

“Look at the bright side, you still have access to your PC and many friends to help you through the bad times. At least you lived and can start over; many didn’t.”

Evanette Olsen

5:08 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 20