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<\/p>\nThe 4.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the San Lorenzo Valley, early Thursday morning, a little under a mile southeast of Boulder Creek, brought 24-year-old Ben Lomond resident Sherlyn Alvarez\u2019s mind back to the disastrous 2017 earthquake in Mexico City, where she used to live. In that natural disaster, she remembered, lots of people died.<\/p>\n
Because, even though the fault movement near her Santa Cruz County mountain home around 1:30am was technically less severe, in some ways it was more intense.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one freaked me out,\u201d she said. \u201cThe house shook more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The earthquake dislodged drawers in her second-floor room, and sent a bunch of her younger sister\u2019s perfume bottles tumbling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sleeping,\u201d she said, explaining she had to open the Brookdale Diner at 7am. \u201cIt was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sisters and their parents raced outside, following advice they\u2019d learned in Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey train us since we\u2019re kids,\u201d she said, explaining that\u2019s why she thought, We have to leave the house.<\/p>\n
But they didn\u2019t see any of their neighbors outdoors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
YOUNG FIREFIGHTERS \u2013 Connor Scarborough (left) and Asher Schwarzbach, at the Ben Lomond Fire Protection District. (Drew Penner \/ Press Banner)<\/p>\n
Did it really happen, or not?, she couldn\u2019t help but think for a second, before they headed back inside.<\/p>\n
Alvarez says they\u2019ve since been told to duck under a table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t expect it here,\u201d she said, adding it wasn\u2019t that she didn\u2019t know the area is prone to quakes\u2014it\u2019s just that, when you haven\u2019t felt one in the few years you\u2019ve been here, it\u2019s easy to put that risk out of your mind. \u201cThis one was really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Alvarez got to work, the cook reported nothing was out of place in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Felton resident David Hofvendahl, 64, happened to be awake at the time of the earthquake\u2014which he estimated lasted at least six seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s absolutely nothing you can do,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was kind of fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was worried it might be the fir tree that towers over his home, swaying dangerously.<\/p>\n
Hofvendahl\u2019s ex-wife was the first to call.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you okay?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
He assured her he was. Within hours, he\u2019d hear from concerned contacts from around the country.<\/p>\n
A terrifying quake was on the itinerary for the third day of vacation here for Trent Morrison, 27, and his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re staying in a tiny mini-house,\u201d the Michigan resident said of the quaint plywood accommodations they\u2019d selected. \u201cIt shook a ton.<\/p>\n
He recalled how they awakened to serious creaking noises.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like the house was gonna fall down,\u201d he said, confirming that was his first time living through an earthquake\u2014and sounding not too shaken-up by the ordeal. \u201cIt is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave Valentine, 73, a Ben Lomond resident, said his dog Lulu woke him up in the middle of the earthquake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt bothered her while it was going on,\u201d he said, adding he had multiple pets that were \u201cpretty aggravated.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the shaking stopped, Valentine went around straightening picture frames.<\/p>\n
Lulu quickly got over the commotion, curling up on the bed and sleeping soundly.<\/p>\n
Valentine\u2019s friend Cyndi Jarvis, 76, who lives up the road\u2014a little closer to the epicenter\u2014was watching an MS Now news when the ground began to tremble.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was frightening to me,\u201d she said, explaining she\u2019d lived through multiple larger earthquakes before, including in 1989.<\/p>\n
Jarvis wondered, had his animals been making a ruckus in advance of the shaking? She\u2019d heard they sometimes have the ability to sense an earthquake is about to begin.<\/p>\n
No, he said, he hadn\u2019t noticed that.<\/p>\n
Years ago, when she lived in Scotts Valley, her fish had begun to act in a bizarre manner shortly before an earthquake, she commented.<\/p>\n
Asher Schwarzbach, an 18-year-old probationary firefighter at the Ben Lomond Fire Protection District, said there was an overnight gas leak and a non-injury crash overnight that weren\u2019t related to the quake.<\/p>\n
But, he continued, \u201cWe had a non-emergency rescue related to the earthquake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor Scarborough, a 20-year-old BLFD firefighter, had just gotten back from morning call.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was in Brookdale,\u201d he said, describing how the homeowner had gone outside and couldn\u2019t get back in because the entrance had become stuck. \u201cThey just couldn\u2019t get into their house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Firefighters quickly got the doorway unblocked.<\/p>\n
Scarborough, who was not on-call overnight, slept through the earthquake. When he got up, he saw nightstand items on the floor.<\/p>\n
Jim Phillips, who lives just north of Boulder Creek, estimated the undulation of the Earth continued for about 30-45 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a hell of a shake,\u201d he said, noting the power went off briefly.<\/p>\n
He says it started off at one level of movement, \u201c\u2014then, it was, like, really violent shaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterwards, he looked around to assess the damage. There were no broken glasses or anything like that. But\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cI found a stack of magazines that had been knocked over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Boulder Creek Fire Protection District said it did not receive any calls related to the earthquake.<\/p>\n
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