[3rd_gear_Ted]

You can see a flood, Hurricane or a Tornado approaching.
But when the ground underneath you starts to act like Jello, it really sends you for a loop.
I was @ the former Rockwell Rocketdyne site in Chatsworth near the epicenter that day. I was about 50 miles from home. I was standing in the high bay building when it started. First thing that happened was the pipes were all clanging together over my head and the noise was deafening. I struggled to keep my balance and started running. It felt like I was stepping on rocks in the middle of a flowing stream as I ran. Next thing was all the dust everywhere it was very disorienting, the ground is moving and the sky was falling and I was shifting into full flight mode. Now the fire sprinkler pipes have sprung a leak and black water is pouring down into the building. My walkie talkie is telling all the facility folks to go to their meeting places and I go to the main switchgear for the facility.
About 5000 people are trying to keep it together and remember what to do. Meantime the call comes to pull the power off to the facility. I'm there with the Electricians scrambling to put on their 40Cal gear. The guy that pulled the pole switch had a huge arc form over his head until the blades got far enough apart to stop the arcing.
Hearing 12Kv trying to reach out and get you is something I'll never forget.
As designed the 6 inch high pressure Gas line that fed the facility had an earthquake valve and it worked. I ended up working for 30 hours that day that I'll never forget.