With a life that has been filled with adventurous travel and rather dangerous situations, I have always realized that one false step on a high mountain thread of a trail could mean "the end".  .  but my close calls have not been earthquakes.  But I believe that in the realm of "natural disasters", first there would have been the freak wave high above Norway on the Barents Sea, hitting our ship out of the blue on a rather calm day, turning the ship onto its side, piling me and other passengers on top of each other onto the glass window that was now underwater for what seemed forever.  No screams, no noise except every bit of china on the ship smashing into bits.  People in shock, waiting for the next wave to turn us over, not knowing that freak waves come singly.  There were serious injuries but no deaths.

Another close call — what turned out to be a closer call.  A "whiteout" in the Antarctic when the density of the cloud cover and the ice become a solid white, making the line between sky and ice invisible. We were on an expedition, a first time ever attempt to reach the remote South Sandwich Islands, which meant plowing through 10 feet of ice for many days to reach them.  The weather cleared enough that we could get in to the volcanic islands (still spouting plumes of smoke) by copter in safety.  But when weather took a turn for the worse, loving our time on the island so (very typical of me), we took the last helicopter out.  There was emergency equipment dropped if we were not going to make it, but we took off.  Immediately, whiteout conditions and the front window steamed up, causing the pilot to have to hang out the window as we couldn’t go back and we couldn’t find our ship in a pure cotton ball weather condition.  The pilot slowly dropped until we could see icebergs and open sea about 3 feet below.  We stayed at that level, hoping to see the ship, but also hoping not to see it too late and crash into its hull.  Twenty minutes of this tense time and we could see the red hull of the Russian icebreaker right ahead.  We somehow landed, but the whiteout was with us, causing us to have to crawl from the copter to an opening into the ship’s interior.  Let’s say it was "memorable" and not to be missed!

Another. . a katabatic wind in polar areas.  These are winds that come from the top of the mountain at such speeds under the force under gravity that they increase in power like a roller coaster as they reach the maximum toward the bottom.  They seem to come out of nowhere.  . and the one that day was clocked at 100mph when it hit me on a mountain slope, taking me off my feet entirely, lifting me in the air and propelling me down the mountain in an instant.  When I hit the ground, the wind at my back drove me into a run and lift combination that could not be stopped.  No human could run that fast without being pushed by the wind at speeds that would have to be seen to be believed.  . at least a mile or more on the flat with no control.  Yes, there were injuries — and yes, I have the newspaper clipping of my personal experience with katabatic winds.  Well, one of them — there were more.

So not earthquakes — but natural phenomena — and only some of my tales that have happened over years of this type of travel. Calling them "memorable times" doesn’t seem to do justice to the experiences though. . . more like life-and-death and making it.  Joan 

Los Angeles February 1971. 

The Fernando Earthquake was the most frightening natural disaster I’ve ever experienced.   The entire left common wall of our duplex tilted violently, throwing us [me and my ex-husband] out of our bed in the bedroom, tossed the china closet in the dining area on to the dining table, and thrust open the doors of the kitchen cabinets tossing out all contents, which crashed loudly on the kitchen floor, counters, and stove. 

When I recall how frightened we were at the time, I feel thankful.  Yet, I can not help wondering how the citizens of China coped last summer in the devastating earthquake they suffered.  My late dear friend was teaching in China at the time, and although she was not in an area adversely affected by the quake, she emailed me.  She shared the tragic and sad accounts suffered by family members of many of her students.

Having experienced only a fraction of loss in the Los Angeles earthquake of 1971, I think of the countless citizens/victims who have loss family members in a natural disaster.  And, I better understand the depth of pain they suffer, and the lasting frighting memories, the trauma, and PTSD, which lingers for so many years.

Several major earthquakes. One major Santa Barbara fire with the entire basin of SB from the ocean to the San Ysidro mountains filled with smoke, ash, helicopters, and horses running loose. It was like a disaster film. I got the entire panorama by accident as I was driving back from San Francisco and when enter SB from the west at a higher elevation for see the entire scene. People turned their animals lose as there was no time to make arrangements the fire had moved so fast. I saw several horses running through the streets. The fire stopped about a mile away from me so was 1/2 awake that night waiting to be told to evacuate…and hoping the winds would die down, which finally they did.

During the Northridge Earthquake I lived in Montecito. The earthquake woke me up around 3:30 AM. All the electricity was out and there was no ambient light whatsoever, it was absolutely pitch dark and I was by myself in a large house in a deserted area. It was scary. And couldn’t see a thing to walk around. The house was built in a big U. The flashlights were in the kitchen very far from the master bedroom…and with all the big glass walls in that direction there was no way I was going to chance walking with aftershock. Could hear the water sloshing out of the pool for a few minutes after the quake. I had to go the bathroom so badly and was afraid to move. Used the wastebasket…thankfully it was some hammered metal and not wicker! I was concerned about gas leaks…and just waited for dawn so I could check. There weren’t cell phones then and the phone was down.

The house was dark for a couple of days, and no cooking, laundry, no water heater so cold water showers, etc. No ATMs, most everything was closed, and the two lane highway going down to LA was closed due to an overpass down….there were no grocery deliveries to Santa Barbara for a couple of days. It was weird to realize how much the stores shelves must be restocked without our noticing. The market let people in a few at a time, as there were no lights or working cash registered. And as a safety measure everyone was escorted around together, and then the bill hand-figured at the register. They found old slider credit card machines. The gas stations pumps didn’t work either…somehow one station they rigged up another method and had a line of cars down the street. 

My son was in San Francisco, in the Marina District in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake with all the buildings collapsed and so many fires. He said that night that emergency services were overwhelmed, the City had no electrity, they had no water, just the red glow and smoke from all the fires and the sounds of sirens all night and knowing that you were totally on your own. He was so sad to see people sitting on the curbs across from their red-tagged homes as the fire dept pulled them down and their photographs and belongings flew out windows. He saw a dead baby removed from a house and the whole thing was traumatic. When he moved to France years later, much as he loves SF and California, he was glad to get away from the quakes.

When we were little kids in our first major quake I ran into my parents bedroom sacred to death to my dad’s side of the bed and woke him up. He didn’t open an eye but asked still half asleep, "Has any part of the house fallen down, anything on fire?" "No." "Then you’re OK, go back to bed."

Back home where I grew up, we’re surrounded by huge mountains. And when the weather is good, they’re the most beautiful thing ever seen, but when it’s raining or snowing, you risk a rain of stone from above…

So the closest thing to a natural disaster I’ve ever seen, was when the rain brought down huge masses of stone and stoneblocks, and crushed the road completely. Everyone had to travel by boat for mounths later. But luckily no one got hurt, and we’re now finally getting a tunnel!

If there’s any natural disaster I really fear, it would be fires. I find anything burning out of control a dangerous disaster!

When my kids were young, I took them on a business trip to Galveston. I drove there so we could visit relatives in Houston on our way to Galveston.   On the way back from Galveston, there was a huge tornado coming my way when I was going through Houston.  I let my kids out at a McDonalds and told them to go in and find a wall to lie against. The tornado hit as I was going in the door.  Tremendous damage but the McDonalds was the only building not seriously damaged in the area.

Also been through 2 earth tremors from earthquakes near the New Madras Fault (Illinois - Missouri).  Although these were in the southern part of the state (about 120 miles), we had damage to our walls from the house settling.  I hated the feel of these tremors.  I felt the earth was out of control.