It was the most violent shaking that Rabbi Mendel Cohen had ever been through, but the city and people of Los Angeles are looking back at the late morning trembler that struck today with the acknowledgement that it could have been much, much worse.
“Thank G‑d it wasn’t,” said a relieved Cohen, co-director of the Friedman Chabad Center & Synagogue on Olympic Boulevard and manager of the Sharing the Warmth program of Chabad-Lubavitch of the West Coast. “It was real scary. I saw my office sway. I actually thought I was fainting, so I went to the bathroom to splash water in my face, but my secretary was under the desk and yelling at me that it was an earthquake.”
Cohen, a native of the United Kingdom, said that he was checking into the Holocaust survivors that he works with to make sure that he was okay. News reports indicated, however, minimal damage across Southern California and no loss of life.
Cohen noted that a natural disaster last year prompted him to develop an emergency action plan. Back in October, he drove his food truck down to S. Diego to deliver food and supplies to some 12,000 people displaced by several wildfires. During the drive, his coworker remarked that they needed a strategy to further improve their response time and preparedness.
“Today, we can confidently set out within two hours of a disaster with food and supplies,” said Cohen.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck two miles southwest of Chino Hills, a community about 30 miles from Los Angeles. Preliminary reports said that it was felt as far away as S. Diego.
The North County Chabad Center in Yorba Linda, some five miles from the epicenter, reported vigorous shaking, but no damage.
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