THE LA TIMES
BY: Peyton Staat
1994 Northridge Earthquake
“It was the biggest Earthquake I’ve ever experienced and I thought it would never end.” said a man named Jeff Staat, also known as my father. It was a very tragic time in California because 5,000 people were injured and 57 were killed. More than half of the deaths were from heart attacks the rest was from buildings and freeways collapsing. This earthquake was a magnitude of 6.7 and the shaking lasted for about ten to twenty seconds.
The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:30 am, my dad was sleeping in his bedroom and woke up because his dog named Rambo jumped in his bed and started barking at him. He was going to try to go back to sleep but but heard a person knocking on the door and went to go get it.
As he walked he would tilt to left then the right, he couldn't walk normally because of the house shaking from the earthquake. He noticed the house seemed ok but there were some picture frames that had fallen off the wall. He opened the door and saw that it was his neighbor. She ran right in the house and told my dad that she didn't want to die and kept repeating that. My dad told her that she would be ok and then when the shaking stopped she went back to her house.
In case there is ever another earthquake like the Northridge Earthquake, my dad recommends that you should keep bottles of water in cupboards and lots of food because the roads fell down and people couldn't go to the supermarket to get food. My dad said that you should also keep flashlights just in case if the power goes out. It is also important that your family should have a plan in case of emergencies like that.