'The strongest one we had ever been in'
My husband, 21 year old daughter and I were eating dinner when we felt the floor rolling, the table started shaking, we heard a terrible rumbling and all the windows in the house rattled. We all looked at each other and realized we were having an earthquake. It definitely was the strongest one we have ever been in. The animals were definitely a little rattled also. Having lived here when the 1964 tsunami hit just 27 miles south of here, we knew what could happen. I called my married daughter to see where she was. She and her husband and baby were walking along the docks at the local port. They did not feel it, but when I told her what just happened, she looked at the boats and water. The boats were just beginning to rock from side to side. No other boats were moving in the area. She said it was very, very strange looking. They immediately left for higher ground. Luckily we live about 500 feet above sea level, so we stayed put and watched the news unfold on TV. We are very thankful there were no injuries in our area. We did call our third daughter in Japan to let her know that we were fine, knowing that she might hear about it on the news. She and her husband, who is in the U.S. Navy, have felt several in the last year and a half that they have been in Japan and it is usually her calling us to let us know that she is OK.
--Ardith McVay, Brookings, Ore.

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'Welcome to California'
When the quake hit, I was at Arcata City Hall, chairing a meeting of our City Planning Commission. The meeting was being televised live throughout Humboldt County via our community access television. There were approximately 30 people at City Hall when we felt the first jolt. The building shook, and a number of citizens immediately ran from City Hall. Through windows at the back of building, I could see the lights swaying in our local ballpark where the two local teams were playing night baseball. As the quake hit, people immediately said "it's an earthquake!" I leaned into the microphone and commented "we're having some unexpected testimony tonight from mother nature." When the quake continued, I briefly thought to evacuate the room. However, having been born and raised in San Francisco, I decided to give it a little more time and see if the tremors lessened. They did. Leaning back into the microphone, I called the meeting back to order with "Welcome to California".
--John Graves, Arcata, Calif.

Pandemonium in San Diego
I'm from San Diego and I heard the tsunami warning. We were calling friends and loved ones that live near the beaches about the tsunami. And actually the tsunami was called off at around 9:30 p.m. approximately. Not minutes after like articles claim. Unfortunately people were scared and some were evacuating. The freeways were completely full of cars trying to head away from the ocean. It looked like pandemonium. In addition, there was rain to top it off. All in all it was a shock to have come so close to getting a tsunami but I'm glad it didn't happen. I'm also glad I'm alive. Peace out.
--Brenda Naranjo, San Diego, Calif.

'A price worth paying'
I live on the second floor of a 120-year-old former hotel in "Old Town" on Eureka's waterfront. The quake didn't shake heavily, but the shaking seemed much longer than any quake I've experienced before. I began to get concerned about that, wondering if this was just light shaking before "the big one" hit. That is always a thought when a quake hits here anyway, as the media keeps reminding us that "The Big One" is coming eventually. We didn't worry much about the tsunami watch after the first 30 minutes, but I spent an hour or so on the phone calming my sister, who lives a block closer to Humboldt Bay. I told her that if a tsunami had been coming it would have hit already. I don't know if that is correct or not. I'll have to research it. I've lived in CA for many years, been in many quakes, including the three of this size in one day that hit back in the 90s, and every one shakes me up emotionally as well as physically. But it is a price worth paying to live in this glorious part of the world.
--Diana Ward, Eureka, Calif.

Lack of information
I was lying in bed, next to my baby- when we felt the quake. It felt very slow and rolling -- not jarring, and less intense than others we've had in the area in the recent past (with less magnitude). My husband and I were struck by the lack of information aired about what we should be doing. There was a Tsunami warning issued that kept circling on the major TV stations, with NO instructions and no explanation about what a "warning" actually meant. One local station had a small window appear on screen with a local newscaster saying that a small Tsunami HAD been recorded by instruments, and that the station would provide more details in 2-3 minutes. No one returned with more information! We just figured that our town sirens would blare if we needed to leave. We were very disappointed in the public information, given the recent disaster in the Pacific Rim.
--Kathy Jack Lambert, Arcata, CA

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