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Fifty years ago this Sunday, Kern County was shaken to its roots by the third largest earthquake in recorded California history.

The town of Tehachapi was heavily damaged, and 12 people were killed. A month later, an aftershock heavily damaged Bakersfield, killing two.

Today, some Kern County residents vividly remember the earthquake, but several more would find themselves unprepared in the event of another big quake.

Photo courtesy of Jerry McCright Earthquake 45 seconds of sheer terror Survivor remembers thinking an atomic bomb had gone off when he felt violent jolt 50 years ago. Posted: 07/22/02 07:00:00 PM TEHACHAPI -- A loud roar shattered the quiet of early morning, and Dick Johnson thought immediately, "The Bomb." The 24-year-old Johnson and his wife, Joan, were still in bed when the first shockwave hit, throwing them into the air. They nearly panicked. "It was 1952. The Cold War was on. I was sure it was an atomic bomb," Johnson said. His house shook so violently that the doorbell began to chime wildly. "To this day, every time I hear chimes, my mind goes back to that horrible morning," Johnson said.

Effort to make old buildings safe continues Bakersfield doing what it can to bring old brick structures up to toughened codes. Posted: 07/22/02 07:00:00 PM Fifty years after the 1952 earthquake brought down many of Bakersfield's downtown brick buildings, the city still has a problem: What to do with the unreinforced brick buildings that survived but have not yet met toughened local building codes? Overall, the city has made progress on its list of 200-some buildings it identified as unreinforced masonry 14 years ago. Most have been retrofitted, while others have some retrofit work under way. However, nearly two dozen buildings, primarily in the downtown and Baker Street areas, have not met the city's earthquake building codes.

Colleen Carroll / The Californian No news frustrates serviceman overseas Posted: 07/22/02 07:00:00 PM While Pat Gracey was coping with the aftermath of the 7.5 earthquake that hit Tehachapi on July 21, 1952, her husband was in Korea, beginning to panic. Doyle Gracey, a 28-year-old Marine at the time, was stationed just outside P'ohang on South Korea's southeastern seaboard with the 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion. "We had a radio, but we couldn't play it because we didn't have any power," Doyle Gracey said. Eventually, he found a generator and hooked it up. The first thing he heard emanating from the speakers was that the small town of Tehachapi, where his wife and two children lived, had been flattened.

Preparation key to survival Many steps can be taken at home and at work to guard against dangers of big quake. Posted: 07/22/02 07:00:00 PM An estimated several million earthquakes occur in the world each year. It takes just one to devastate a community. While Kern County residents are aware of possible earthquake disasters, most have done little to prepare, said Charles Conner, emergency services manager for the Kern County Office of Emergency Services.

Photo courtesy of Virginia Parks Kern home to many faults Five of the 15-20 active faults are seen as capable of producing major quakes. Posted: 07/22/02 07:00:00 PM The myriad earthquake faults surrounding Kern County resemble a broken pane of glass, cracks extending in every direction. The county has 15 or 20 active faults with either a known history of quakes or that show evidence of geologically recent (within the last few thousand years) movement. Most are capable of inflicting damage, and two in particular - the Garlock and San Andreas faults - are able to produce massive temblors.

Photo courtesy of Southern Pacific Railroad Damaged rails took months to fix Posted: 07/22/02 07:00:00 PM As westbound Southern Pacific Train 55 made its way to Bakersfield early in the morning of July 21, 1952, James Strong, then 22 years old, took the opportunity to catch a little shut-eye. Strong, a University of California, Berkeley student working for the Southern Pacific railroad in Bakersfield during his summer vacation, had spent the day before on an excursion train ride on several rail lines along the California coast. Because he was a railroad employee, he caught a free ride on the mail and express train back to Bakersfield, which carried one sparsely occupied coach car for passengers. Just before 4 a.m., the ride got bumpy.