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Frazzled nerves keep families awake in Ridgecrest, where the earthquakes got larger, not smaller

by in News

Fear kept the Lugo family out of their beds and on their porch all night Friday after a 7.1 magnitude quake – the second shaker in two days – hit Ridgecrest.

“My family wants me to go to Bishop, but I don’t know if it’s safe,” said Lizbet Lugo, 26, referring to the community where her parents live. “Now I don’t know if any place is safe.”

Lugo and her children, ages 9, 8 and 6 did not sleep Friday night after the 7.1 quake rattled nerves already worn by a 6.4 Independence Day temblor.

Instead, they stayed on the porch of their Whispering Winds home, in a town where the shakers got bigger, not smaller. Next door, a mobile home had been gutted by fire Friday. There, only a few soiled clothes in hangers could be clearly identified. The smell of charred rubble emanated from the burned out husk.

  • Laura Coffee, left, and her father Billy Brown, both of Ridgecrest, looks at the damage to Coffee’s home in the Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park in Ridgecrest on Saturday, July 6, 2019. The city was hit with a 7.1 earthquake Friday night after a 6.4 foreshock on the Fourth of July. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A portion of the Coffee’s back door is hidden, after their mobile home dropped two-feet from the earthquake, in the Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park in Ridgecrest on Saturday, July 6, 2019. The city was hit with a 7.1 earthquake Friday night after a 6.4 foreshock on the Fourth of July. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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  • Dennis Coffee, left, and his father-in-law Billy Brown, both of Ridgecrest, look at the damage to Coffee’s home in the Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park in Ridgecrest on Saturday, July 6, 2019. The city was hit with a 7.1 earthquake Friday night after a 6.4 foreshock on the Fourth of July. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A jack is seen breaking through the floor of the Coffee’s mobile home in the Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park in Ridgecrest on Saturday, July 6, 2019. The city was hit with a 7.1 earthquake Friday night after a 6.4 foreshock on the Fourth of July. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • Dennis Coffee, of Ridgecrest, looks at the damage to his home in the Whispering Winds Mobile Home Park in Ridgecrest on Saturday, July 6, 2019. The city was hit with a 7.1 earthquake Friday night after a 6.4 foreshock on the Fourth of July. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • Earthquake damage is shown following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Ridgecrest, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

  • One of many damage brick walls scene after last nights earthquake damage is shown following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Trona, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

  • One of many brick chimneys scene after last nights earthquake damage is shown following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Trona, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

  • Local evacuees leave a fire station with there belongings after last nights earthquake damage is shown following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Trona, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

  • Railroad ties bent after last nights earthquake damage is shown following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Trona, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

  • USGS techs look over rupture cracks from the epicenter along highway 178 after last nights Earthquake damage following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Ridgecrest, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

  • Cal-Trans workers work to fix a 11 inch water main break after last nights Earthquake damage following a 7.1 aftershock earthquake near Ridgecrest, California, U.S., July 6, 2019. photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer

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At the home of Dennis and Laura Coffee in the same Whispering Winds neighborhood, metal supports designed to hold up their mobile home impaled the floor.

The metal skirting around the mobile home buckled and the metal jacks came up through the floor, causing the home to fall about a foot.

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The Whispering Winds owner estimated the cost of repairs at $10,000. That did not include the extensive damage inside.

After the first quake, Laura Coffee sorted her good jewelry from the broken glass on the floor.

“She put it back on the shelf and BAM! here comes another one (Friday),” Dennis Coffee said, “and it’s back laying on the floor.”

MORE: How you can help residents of Ridgecrest and Trona

The Coffees were trying to clean up the home Saturday with all the utilities out.

Despite the nerve-wracking quakes, the Coffees said they feel fortunate because they have received offers of housing from family members and friends.

Dennis Coffee said he hopes someone will offer earthquake victims low-interest loans.

“This is what the people in the town need. Just don’t gouge us,” he said. “These are good, hardworking people. They don’t want charity.”