When the quake hit, I was in my office on the 5th floor of Bldg. 113 at LLNL
(just off East Avenue). It took a couple of seconds for me to realize what
was happening. I dived under a table just as things began falling. The
drawer of the table was partially open and ended up being ripped off the
table. When the quake subsided, there was a layer about a foot thick of
books, papers, computer printouts, and files on the floor. Two large bookcases
had fallen over. It was dim since the lights had gone out. I could hear
several women crying nearby.

My first thought was about the safety of my family, but all phone lines
were jammed and it was impossible to call out. I went into the hallway
which was completely dark. Making my way to the exit, I found a colleague's
office doorway completely blocked with files and books. I stopped with
several others to help dig him out. Then we walked down the stairway which
had emergency lighting, noting the large cracks in the walls. After a time
outside, checking on coworkers, everyone wanted to find out how their
families fared. By this time, East Avenue was a parking lot and it was very
frustrating to have to wait. Eventually, I was reunited with my family and
happy that they were all ok.

My building was closed for seismic retrofitting for nearly a year and my
organization was eventually moved into another building. The Lab was very
fortunate there weren't extensive casualities from this quake. This
experience led to all bookshelves being "tied down", evacuation drills and
other emergency preparedness measures.

I was at home during the big aftershock. I remember being under the kitchen
table with wife and kids watching a hanging lamp in our family room swing
back and forth while feeling like we were on a Disneyland ride.

Thanks again for recording these events.

Mike Feit