A Look Back to May 1983

Violent Shaking, in the form of an earthquake, was the order of the day twenty-eight years ago today!

On May 2, 1983 at 4:42 p.m. the sleepy little central valley town in California where I grew up, was shaken to its very core!

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook our little town violently, leaving devastation and shock to all those who called this place home!

With all of the earthquakes around the world lately, this event of 28 years ago has been on my mind a lot recently! I can recall with vivid detail the events of that day just as if they happened yesterday!  The atmosphere of that day was odd in a way that I now know was a precursor to what would happen later that afternoon. It was hot that day in May, humid in fact and there was an edge of impatience to the air!

On the walk home from school (I was in 8th grade) I remember commenting to my friend that the afternoon felt strange and I remember saying how odd it was that the birds were not chirping as we walked through the park heading home. Now, I ask, what junior high kid pays attention to whether or not the birds are chipping! I was a very observant child. (Still am to this day). I will often notice things that others will not!

When I got home from school I headed to my room and one thing I noticed was that my hamster was awake and running in his exercise wheel. He had been very, very active the night before and here he was again, running like a crazy critter! Odd...to me yes, but not to him.

The animals could feel the change in the atmosphere long before we could!

I remember calling my mom at work to ask if I could walk downtown with my friend. She told me no.

So we instead planned our afternoon around the pool and then down to her house to hangout for awhile.

I was at her house (two houses down from mine) when the earthquake hit!

We were on the phone with another friend and I remember feeling off balance and looking out their kitchen window at their pool and noticing that it was rolling and then a violent jolt like I had never felt before took us right off our feet! The shaking continued for what seemed like forever. My friends dad was home and made his way down the hall to us and stuck us in a doorway. We stayed there until things settled down and then headed outside. People were outside their homes with stunned expressions on their faces!

We had experienced earthquakes before, but NOTHING like this!

My Nana was visiting at the time and was at our house alone when this happened. She was tossed into a wall and received a pretty deep gash to her forehead. When I got to the house she was heading outside and I remember how calm she was, not really realizing the seriousness of her own injury, when she told me to go with her across the street where we would be safe. I remember seeing the inside of our house first...it was a wreck! A neighbor saw to Nana's cut while we waited with others on the dirt hill across from our house.

We waited on the dirt hill until my parents arrived. Which felt like forever to this then teenage girl!

An aftershock hit shortly after the major quake and it was another jolting, jarring event... a 3.5 that felt more like a 7!

We were not able to stay in our house that night, so mom put Nana and I in the car and drove us an hour east to Fresno to stay with family. I have no clue to this day how mom held it together and drove away from that mess! I don't remember how long I stayed with my Sis...a few days I know for sure, but it seemed like forever. There was tons of clean-up that had to be done at home before things could get back to normal. Dad had to work long hours on the repair to power lines, poles, etc that had been damaged in the quake. He worked for PG&E and they like so many others had a responsibility first and foremost to the town to get things back up and working power wise as quickly as possible.

The clean-up to our home and rebuilding of our town took months, if not years!

What I remember most though is the fact that our once beautiful, historic, old downtown area was transformed forever in an instant on that day! It was GONE in the blink of an eye!

The following story and photos are but a brief account of what transpired on that May day twenty-eight years ago today!

The Coalinga Earthquake of May 2, 1983. Epicenter: 36.23 N, 120.29 W; depth: 10 km; magnitude: 6.7; damage: $31 million; no deaths. The earthquake struck the town of Coalinga, California, (population 7,000) at 4:42 p.m. PDT on May 2, 1983, and was followed by a large aftershock 3.5 minutes later. The main shock occurred near Anticline Ridge about 15 km northeast of Coalinga. It was felt from the Los Angeles area north to Susanville and from the Pacific Coast to western Nevada, an area of about 205,000 km2.

The most serious damage occurred in the eight-block downtown commercial district extending from Third to Seventh Street between Durian and Forest Streets. Of 139 buildings in this area, 59 collapsed or were heavily damaged. The most severe damage occurred to the old (usually pre-1930) one- and two-story buildings of unreinforced brick masonry wall construction, with floors and roofs of wood.


In contrast to the severe damage to old brick buildings, the newer buildings of reinforced concrete-block walls or prefabricated metal had little structural damage. Most of the public buildings including the firehouse, post office, city hall, police station, hospital, and schools suffered only minor damage. Public utilities (water, electricity, gas, sewerage) performed well in spite of damage to some units.


Private residences were heavily damaged. More than eight hundred single-family houses were destroyed or incurred major damage. The majority of the 94 injuries occurred in residential sections of the city.



Aerial shot of downtown Coalinga, CA. taken May 4, 1983

 Street Level View of Damaged Building at 5th Street and Elm Avenue, Coalinga

 Wall Damage to Building in Downtown Coalinga

 Total Collapse of Front of Residence, Coalinga CA

 Interior Damage, Coalinga Junior High School Home Economics building

 Interior Damage, Coalinga Junior High School

(the school I was attending at the time)

Dawson Elementary School library

 View of downtown street

The total devastation was unbelievable! There was no loss of life which was amazing considering the time of day and the violent energy from the earthquake itself!

 

Over the years this event has come to the forefront of my mind often, but today is the first time I have ever put my thoughts down in writing!

 

 

“Earthquakes have long been feared as one of nature’s most damaging hazards

Earthquakes continue to remind us that nature still can strike without warning and,

after only a few seconds, leave casualties and damage in their wake.” ~ Senior FEMA Offical