Where Were You?
I was a security guard at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant at the time of the Nov. 8, 1980 quake. I was working the graveyard shift at the time and was outside on the trail between fuel storage tanks 1&2.I happened to be facing south east and saw two bright flashes over in the Bell Hill/ Tompkins Hill direction. Then the ground started shaking, so much so that I had to steady myself on my feet. Despite that, I still wondered if it was my imagination as this was the first big earthquake I'd been awake for.
The swaying and squeaking of the lamps on top of the fuel tanks assured me that there really was an earthquake going on.
After it stopped shaking it was strangely quiet. I got on my radio and called Security. No answer. I called again. No answer, then the shift supervisor came on over the radio and said the two guards inside the security building had locked themselves out. They'd left the building when it started shaking.
It took a while for me to realize the reason it was so quiet was Units 1 and 2 had shut down, thus no power generation noise. They were designed to do that in case of an earthquake of a certain size.
I remember seeing the fire trucks and ambulances heading south on the freeway. I wondered at the time if the C.R. dorms had collapsed, or some such. Didn't find out about the bridge collapse until a little bit later.
A water line broke on the east side of Unit 2. Quite a gusher blowing there until they got it fixed. Nearly all the maintenance people ended up coming in shortly after that to deal with any needed repairs.
Oddly enough, when I got home that morning, I don't recall any damage to speak of at my little house. The aftershocks went on for 3 days.
Oh, and that first family that went off the bridge, they were friends of one of our other supervisors and had left his house a few hours before driving south to drive over the bridge.
Where were you?
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:12 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I was 1700 above sea level, on Fickle Hill. My first born ( 6 months old at the time ) was in the bedroom across the hall from our room. I remember getting up and walking to his crib with the rolling of the mountain ( hill ) and just about the time I picked him up and found my wife, the rolling earthquake stopped, so to speak...Tom,the guy in the TS article,the dad, was a year behind me at EHS, but I remember him having a broken leg...and in the words of the American Red Cross, get your asses, my word, prepared...
I was on the Humboldt Fire District #1 Fire Engine that responded to this incident. Can't believe it's already been thirty years.
Recently my now adult son mentioned how soundly he slept. I added "You even slept through an earthquake!" followed by this, (we had recently moved from Hawaii to Eureka to be near family in Blue Lake): "I remember this quake jolting me from a sound sleep. Probably because I was in a full wave waterbed and it was a rolling quake which created some serious waves nearly ejecting me from the bed without any effort on my part. My first thought was "get in a doorway!" Followed instantaneously by "NO! GET THE KIDS!" Two leaps toward the bedroom door and it was over, lol. And none of you woke up. I remember pictures of this road in the newspaper. The part that collapsed was new, had been added on with an expansion. The old part remained intact."
Unless I've got the wrong quake, but the time of year and morning are right. I just don't remember the road being that big. The way it collapsed is right. I also thought it was in 81. 30+ years and a couple of strokes can wreak havoc with memory though. :)
I remember this quake jolting me from a sound sleep. Probably because I was in a full wave waterbed and it was a rolling quake which created some serious waves nearly ejecting me without any effort on my part. My first thought was "get in a doorway!" Followed instantaneously by "NO! GET THE KIDS!" Two leaps toward the bedroom door and it was over, lol. And none of the kids woke up. I remember pictures of this road in the newspaper. The part that collapsed was new, had been added on with an expansion. The old part remained intact.
Unless I have the wrong 'quake. I don't remember the road being that big. I thought it was a little bridge over a creek or gully. The time of year and morning are right though. Anyway, thanks for sharing the pic!
Post a Comment
<< Home