Earthquake Memories : ‘We Were Lucky That We Moved’
I was living in the Northridge Meadows Apartments and moved two weeks before the earthquake. Some friends of mine were still living in the Meadows apartments when the earthquake happened.
They told me that they felt the apartments that went to the right and then fell down and smashed the first floor. I was living in Apartment 104 and they told me that we were lucky that we moved because if we hadn’t, we would be dead.
When my mom knew that the apartments smashed the first floor, my mom was sick. Those nights we couldn’t sleep because we were afraid to shake hard. We slept in the neighbor’s house in the living room. Later, we went to the house and we slept. That night, it shook again. Then my father took the van out and we slept in the van. We were afraid that the neighbor’s fence would fall because it is in blocks.
My conclusion is that I hope I never have to live through something like that again.
CARLOS T. CORTES Age 11 Nobel Middle School in Northridge
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
(B1) Quake Memory:’ I was living in Apartment 104 and they told me that we were lucky that we moved because if we hadn’t, we would be dead. ‘
Carlos T. Cortes, 11
Former Northridge Meadows Resident
CHILDREN’S QUAKE EXPERIENCES, B2
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