Here is the conclusion from the “Promoted to Pray” post from Monday, 1/27. If you have not read that post, go check it out as it is the lead-up to the events in this post. This is story about a miraculous event that happened in my birth town, Coalinga, CA, in 1983. The earthquake that destroyed much of that town was well-documented in the national press. We pick up the story below.

At 4:42 PM, the pressure that was building at a single point along an undiscovered fault line let go, becoming a sharp and powerful earthquake.  The epicenter was about eight miles from Coalinga, and about seven miles deep underground.  Immediately, houses began to shake, sway, then crumble.  Buildings downtown began to do the same, with the old-style brick facades on many of them collapsing into the streets. Most business were open and the shops, sidewalks, and streets downtown were still occupied by the normal collection of workers and visitors.  Many families were home or on the way home from work.

The quake was sharp but short, and in a few moments the main shock has passed. In its wake were over 800 buildings destroyed or damaged.  Many of these structures were so badly damaged and dangerous that they would be torn down without a chance to recover contents. Many families lost everything in the quake. More than 350 homes and other buildings were destroyed outright.

The downtown was devastated, with only two buildings salvageable.  The mayor was quoted on the national news saying, “What you see here is a case of instant urban renewal.”  The college on the edge of town survived due to its newer construction. The more modern frame houses did better than the older homes, although many needed extensive sheet-rock and glass repairs.  Not a single masonry chimney in town was still standing. My family’s cement block duplex escaped unscathed save for an evaporative cooler that tumbled off the roof and a few small cracks in the walls.

Interestingly, despite the severe damage to the community, there were only minor injuries to the citizens.  About 25 people went to the hospital for treatment with none being admitted.  One man, a transient person from elsewhere in the state, was seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Fresno, California, where he later died of his injuries.  Sadly, he was simply passing through the community on that particular day, a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Many who witnessed these events described it as simply miraculous that so much of the community could be so heavily damaged, especially in the downtown during business hours, yet so few residents were injured, and those had only minor injuries.  Clearly, our God was at work in that town on that day.  He prompted three of His servants to pray in the night, which He then leveraged into miraculous action the next day.

Does our God prompt us to pray?  Yes, He does.  Does praying make a difference?  Apparently so.

Banner image via Hippostcard.com. Other image via family archives.