Local shops and restaurants react to recent quakes

Valley visitors and residents are still feeling the impact of yesterday’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake.

Friday night’s quake shook several valley shops and restaurants. “What’s happening instead of this jolt is this swaying that you’re seeing…and it is nauseating. It feels like you’re on water,” said Rachel Hammond, co-owner, La Akua.

While the Coachella Valley is located nearly 200 miles from the epicenter, the quake has left many feeling uneasy. “My family members said they were kind of nauseous after it happened,” said Kaley Doherty, a downtown Palm Springs shop employee.

Some out-of-state and even international visitors in town for the holiday weekend shared that they experienced an earthquake for the first time this week. “The last few days we’ve had several international guests come in and they’re all talking about the earthquake right now,” added Hammond.

Restaurant and shop employees downtown described the moment it hit and discussed preventative measures they’re now considering. “The Chandeliers were rocking a little bit…we noticed a kind of rolling effect. We’ll be taking extra precautions since we have a lot of inventory up on the shelves,” said Britnee Bagley, employee, El Patron restaurant.

“Our sister store the owner over there said he felt a rolling sensation and it’s a jewelry store with a lot of art so it’s really nerve wracking when an earthquake happens in that kind of store,” added Doherty.

“As a small business owner I understand that anything that’s on a shelf up higher than me has to be secure down. We like to say…don’t put anything that weighs more than a bowling ball high above your head because if that comes crashing down…that could hurt,” said Hammond.

Hammond showed News Channel 3 simple steps you can take to prevent injuries and protect things from breaking in the event of a quake: “We really like the sticky dots or what we call museum wax,” she said. Using a simple adhesive product, you can prevent objects from falling off of shelves.

Additionally, Hammond says all furniture should be secured to the walls with special brackets. “When you do install them, make sure that they’re installed properly. It will hold the shelf in place. And that’s exactly what you need for earthquake safety,” she added.

In addition to physically preparing your business or home for earthquakes, don’t forget to stock up on water and non-perishable food items, as experts anticipate more aftershocks in the upcoming days.