Surveillance video in Goleta shows moments when earthquake hit

Surveillance video from a 7-Eleven in Goleta show the moments before, throughout and after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck just before 7:40 a.m. on Wednesday.

The video shows customers shopping. Then the camera shakes and two employees can be seen running for the exit.

Safety experts say when a quake hits, stay where you are and wait for things to settle before heading out the door. But that is easier said than done for many in Goleta who felt this latest temblor.

“Everything started shaking very hard,” said Cheers Liquor’s Rami Hanna.

Hanna’s shop is filled with wall-to-wall glass bottles and he said he was lucky to only have a single bottle of chardonnay fall off his shelves.

“All the bottles started shaking and I went outside, just scary,” Hanna said.

At Ellwood School, ceiling tiles wiggled loose and Principal Abby Vasquez found herself in the duck-and-cover position under her desk.

“Then as soon as it stopped trembling I did a call-out to our playground,” Vasquez said. “We did have our yard supervisors on duty and everyone was totally fine.”

Vasquez also said students had a nervous excitement following the earthquake.