Location: San Diego, USA
Role: Research & Development
I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, still half-asleep. But my senses were suddenly jolted awake as I felt the trembling. My bed - no - my whole room was shaking back and forth wildly. I felt like I was riding on the back of a giant creature, and I couldn’t do anything to stop the violent oscillations of the earth. Stumbling across the room, I hurried over to the doorway, seeking shelter the way I had been taught in school. My parents had also rushed out of their room, and their eyes, like mine, were wide with fear. Then, as soon as it had started, the tremors stopped and the earth was still once again.
I survived the Northridge earthquake that hit Los Angeles at 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994. Measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, the earthquake’s epicenter was about 20 miles away from my own home, but the effects were still very frightening. The fear and uncertainty I felt at the time opened my eyes to how disaster can strike us at any moment. And we truly cannot control the dynamic changes that our Earth undergoes. The important thing, then, is to prepare what to do in a disaster and understand how to minimize its effects. My experience certainly made me realize how fortunate I am to be alive. I hope you learn a lot from Forces of Nature. Please enjoy this site!
Hi! My name is Helen , and I am currently a senior (12th grade) at Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California, United States of America. This is my second year participating in the ThinkQuest Internet Challenge. When I first started participating in this competition, I didn’t know a single line of HTML, but since then I have learned how to use it, CGI, JavaScript, and Flash. Here is another website that I have worked on:
ES2000 - Endangered Species of the Next Millennium
(winner of 1999 ThinkQuest Platinum award, Social Sciences category)
I hope this site helps you learn a little of our planet’s powerful forces, and I wish all of you safety, good health, and happiness in the future.
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