Survivors Describe California Earthquake Experience

Aug. 25--Mariah Davis, a Yuba City business owner, and her fiance were asleep in a Napa hotel when a magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit about six miles away early Sunday morning.

"I was in the midst of a dream, so I woke screaming, thinking I was still dreaming," Davis said. "My fiance crawled over me to protect me. It really sounded like the building was coming down around us. It felt like it was never going to stop. It scared us both."

Toppled furniture, a television and broken glass littered the floor following the 3:20 a.m. earthquake.

"It looked like our room had been ransacked," Davis said.

They grabbed some clothes and headed for the lobby where they heard stories from other guests of rooms that were flooded.

The smell of gas filled the parking lot, and the couple returned to their room until the hotel was evacuated around 7 a.m.

After sunrise, Davis was able to take a look around outside and see the missing windows and cracks in the Marriott hotel. Davis, who owns Oakview Insurance Services in Yuba City, was visiting Napa with fiance Scott McClarrinon to watch an Indy car race at the nearby Sonoma Raceway.

Since the track was not damaged in the earthquake, the Sacramento couple attended the race.

Closer to home, many people in Yuba-Sutter felt the earthquake.

Victor Moreno, 21, of Yuba City had just gotten into bed after getting home from his job as a customer sales agent for a Mexican airline at Sacramento International Airport when his bed started shaking side to side.

Moreno said he's been in earthquakes before and wasn't scared at all.

Kimberly Anderson was sleeping with the window open at her Yuba City home when she heard splashing in her in-ground pool.

"I thought someone was playing around in our pool," the 31-year-old said.

Her husband turned the light on outside and went to investigate.

"It looked like the ocean in our pool," Anderson said. "It was splashing around."

Not seeing any footprints of someone who may have run off, the couple suspected it was likely an earthquake.

Anderson got online and quickly confirmed it was an earthquake.

"It was kind of surprising," Anderson said.

Water that splashed out from a Yuba City swimming pool soaked some carpet in Dena Shorey's home.

Debbie Marsh of Yuba City said she felt her bed shake and the door rattle as her dog barked during the earthquake.

Julie Pate, also of Yuba City, said the earthquake seemed to last a long time.

"(It) scared the crap out of me," Pate said.

___

(c)2014 the Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, Calif.)

Visit the Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, Calif.) at www.appeal-democrat.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services