Moms Survive L.A. Earthquake

Moms Survive L.A. Earthquake

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

filed under: family

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 shook large parts of Southern California.

When an earthquake hit Los Angeles today, the moms at the momlogic office were rattled -- literally. Here are six moms' unique perspectives.

	"This is my first earthquake since becoming a mother, and I realized that being a mom changes everything. I thought about how scared my 2-year-old daughter must be at her daycare. I just wanted to go get her to let her know she was safe." - Andrea, mom of 1
	"Honestly at first I felt excited about the earthquake, but after a few seconds when it continued I got incredibly nervous for my husband, my baby, my family and my friends. I immediately called the babysitter, but when her phone didn't work, I called my husband. He got through to our friend who lives close to our house and drove over to check on everything. I knew nothing was wrong, but it was great to hear it from someone who was with my daughter in person that everything was OK." - Annie, mom of 1
	"Born and raised in San Francisco, this is far from my first quake. I've been through the Bay Bridge collapse and the Northridge quake -- just to name a few. So I'm a little jaded about most earthquakes, and am not easily rattled. But when our 5th floor offices began to sway and shake today, it shook me up a little. It went on for what felt like a long time -- in actuality about 30 seconds -- and my immediate instinct was to join the other moms and get the hell out of the building!" - Jill, mom of 2
	"I was terrified actually. I had a friend in my cubicle and grabbed onto her tightly yelling 'What do we do?' I got teary-eyed. I tried repeatedly to call my kids who are at home with their nanny. It was horribly frightening. I was out of sorts for a good hour after it happened. I wondered where they were, who was with them, did my sitter know earthquake safety. Not fun!" - Rachel, mom of 3
	"I almost didn't want to go back up to the building afterwards, I was so shaken up. None of the cell phones were working and I couldn't get in touch with my nanny. I managed to get an email through on my Blackberry. It was really frightening." - Melissa, mom of 1
	"My first thought was if the building was going down or not. It was shaking violently and all I could think about were my kids. They are in New York right now with my husband so I knew they were safe, but I was worried I wouldn't be. You realize in a moment like that how powerless you really are, and how little material possessions matter. I wasn't worried about my house or my car -- I just wanted to live for my family." - Julie, mom of 2

Were you in the earthquake? Share your story below.

9 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

I was at the zoo in LA and did not feel a thing. I didn’t even know there was an earthquake until my friend called me.

- Anonymous

Posted 07/29/08 06:23 PM

Glad everyone is ok! Scary!

- Anonymous

Posted 07/29/08 06:34 PM

I am in Chino Hills and things were flying off my bookshelves. I want to move to Iowa. I am so scared!

- Jackie

Posted 07/29/08 06:43 PM

We had building damage at my work near the epicenter. That was a very scary quake!

- Christy

Posted 07/29/08 08:08 PM

I live in Mission Viejo and we felt strongly upstairs.My 5 year old was very scared.

- piia

Posted 07/30/08 12:32 PM

How sad, for all of you, who think you are real moms. A real mom would be home with her children, not leaving them with a babysitter/nanny/daycare provider. And you guys run a “mom” site, I find that almost as sad. You know nothing about being a mom, because your always thinking of yourself first. I feel for your kids, they won’t know what a real mom is.

- a real mother

Posted 07/30/08 02:37 PM

I was at the vocational school I am attending, at lunch. I yelled “Hey, it’s an earthquake! Ride ‘em cowboy!” You see, I lived in the Bay area for 7-1/2 years, including the ‘81 earthquake, when the Cypress interchange collaped upon itself (in Oakland) and the Bay Bridge broke, and several other ones (like the Santa Cruz one, where large cracks appeared in the ground), so I guess I’m a bit jaded when it comes to earthquakes. In fact, they have to be at least a 5.2 for me to even feel them, anymore, I’ve been through so many of them.

- Chiyoko

Posted 07/30/08 10:58 PM

How sad, for YOU, that you are so prejudiced. And how sad, for YOUR children, that they have such a close-minded mother to shape their souls and minds. I’m tired of people who try to make me feel guilty because I worked. I was always there for my children, participated in their school activities, and was there for all their school events. How dare you judge me, or any other mother, who has to work in order to pay the mortgage, pay the rent, pay the bills, put groceries on the table. Close-minded, bigoted people like you make me sick.

- Chiyoko

Posted 07/30/08 11:04 PM

a real mother…. who the hell are you to say we are not real mothers not everyone can sit at home. A Real mom also has to provide for her kids and make a living for them unlike you who stays at home.

- MELANIE

Posted 09/08/08 11:47 AM