Jose Mier Awakened By 4:40 am Jolt
Like most Sun Valley, CA residents I was shaken awake by the latest quake to hit the Southland last night (this morning, actually). At 4:30 am a 4.2 magnitude temblor struck the Pacoima area which is just in our backyard.
The initial jolt was followed by several aftershocks, only one of which I felt. This one occurred just a few minutes later and was on the magnitude of 3.3.
Of course earthquakes are a part of life for all of us in Sun Valley and the Southern California area but it’s literally rattling when one occurs. They do seem to happen at the most inauspicious times—middle of the night—and this one was no different.
Unsure of how strong it would be, I jumped out of bed and found a “safe” spot in one of the doorways of my house. The shaking did stop, however, only a few seconds after it started so I did not stay long in the door and tried to go back to sleep.
The occurrence of another quake prompts me to remind all my Sun Valley neighbors to build and keep a “go bag” in case a much larger earthquake occurs and make a plan with the rest of your family as to what to do and where to go if a big one hits. It’s advice we all hear every time something like this happens and few (myself included) take it seriously. For that, I need to do better.
